LyokoWarrior94's Code Lyoko:  Reloaded
by LyokoWarrior94
Summary: They thought it was over...  They thought they had beaten XANA...  They were wrong.  Now, when someone is tricked and the Supercomputer is restarted, can the gang band together and finally take XANA down?  T to be safe! I don't know where it's going yet!
1. Episode 96: Requiem

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko! Moonscoop does!**

**Episode 96: Requiem**

"Ahh!" Aelita screamed as she woke with a start in her dorm, drenched in sweat and shaking from head to toe. The nightmares were back. It had been three months since they had shut down the Supercomputer, but she couldn't get the visions out of her head. Every night she would dream about that last stand on Lyoko; about her father giving his life to stop XANA; about being chased through the woods towards the Factory; about her friends disappearing from her life. She slowly sat up in her bed and looked out the window at the soft moonlight blanketing the ground outside, before getting up and walking slowly to the door. When she opened it, a familiar dark-haired face was staring very crossly at her.

"Some of us are trying to sleep, you know!" Sissi snapped as Aelita looked at her feet, embarrassed.

"I know; I'm sorry, Sissi. I was having a nightmare."

"Again?" she asked, confused. "That's twice this week. Are you okay?"

"I think so. I just need to catch my breath," Aelita replied in a whisper.

"Okay. Well, try to keep it down."

"Okay. Good night," Aelita said as she shut the door behind her and went for a walk…

Outside, on the Kadic grounds, Aelita was walking in the moonlight and thinking to herself about everything that had happened over the past couple months. She was thinking about her father. She wanted for there to be a way for him to still be alive. As she continued to pace by the crossroads, she jumped when a hand rested on her shoulder, and she calmed a bit when she saw who it belonged to.

"I thought I might find you here," Odd said quietly. "Is everything okay, Princess?"

"I guess," she replied in a whisper. "I had the nightmares again. I was thinking about my father."

"Again? Aelita, are you sure everything's all right?"

"I don't know… Something just hasn't felt right ever since we shut off the Supercomputer a couple months ago. Just…like something's been left unfinished."

"Princess, we did it. We stopped XANA. Everything's going back to normal."

"But it's not…not for me. You all had someone to come home to," she said with tears in her eyes. "I lost my father. I have no one now," she finished, her voice breaking as she ran into Odd's arms and he hugged her.

"Shh…" he said. "It'll be okay. No matter what happens, you'll always have us. I promise…"

The next morning, albeit a little late, Jeremy finally joined Odd, William, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita at breakfast.

"Morning, everyone!" he said cheerfully as he sat down with his tray of food.

"Morning, Einstein!" Odd replied.

"Morning, Jeremy," Ulrich mumbled around a mouthful of food.

"Good morning, Jeremy," Aelita said, trying to keep cheerful, but Jeremy saw through it in an instant.

"What's wrong, Aelita?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied, suddenly very interested in her eggs.

"Come on, I know you better than that. What is it?" he asked again.

"I—I had the dreams again last night," she finally replied quietly.

"What, Aelita, again?" Ulrich asked in surprise.

"Yes," she answered.

"Oh, no…" William muttered as he looked sadly at her.

"The same ones?" Jeremy asked her curiously.

"Yes. Of my father, and you all fading away. I can't take it anymore; I wish I knew what it meant!"

"It's probably nothing. I really thing they will go away, Aelita."

"What if they don't? What if it's XANA?" she asked.

"I don't—"

"Jeremy," she cut him off, "do you think there's a chance my father is still alive? That these visions are some type of omen or warning from him?"

"No. He sacrificed himself to power the multi-agent system. There's no trace of him left. We checked, remember?"

"I know. But we could have missed something; we could have—"

"Aelita, I'm sorry," Jeremy stopped her. "He's gone."

"No!" she shot back. "I refuse to accept that he's dead! And if you won't do anything about it, then I'll do it without you!" she cried as she threw out her tray and ran off.

"Real smooth, Einstein," Ulrich said sarcastically.

"Yeah," Odd agreed. "You really do need to be a little bit gentler with her," he said as Jeremy just groaned and pushed his food away.

Aelita ran crying up to her room and slammed the door shut as she threw herself down on her bed and sobbed. She would not believe that her father was gone! He couldn't be! And her "friends" didn't even want to help her. Fine, then! She would handle it on her own.

She grabbed a pair of clothes and went to the girls' showers, taking a stall and turning the hot water on, letting it wash over her and letting the heat calm her down a little bit. She took a couple of deep breaths and let a few more tears run down her face before cleaning herself up and quickly slipping out the back door on the first floor. It was time to go searching…

In Mrs. Hertz's class…

"Stern?"

"Present."

"Della Robbia?"

"Here!"

"Belpois?"

"Here, Mrs. Hertz."

"Stones?" No answer. "Aelita?"

"Uh…she's not here, Mrs. Hertz," Yumi said, slightly flustered. "I saw her this morning at breakfast, but I don't know where she went…"

"Very well. We'll just have to start without her. Now…" Jeremy let Mrs. Hertz's voice fade out as possible scenarios ran through his head. She wouldn't be that stupid, would she?

Aelita ran through the woods until she came to the rusted gates of the Hermitage. She ran quickly inside up to her room and found Mr. Puck hidden in a hole in the wall of her room. She hugged the little doll before sitting on the floor of her old bedroom and taking out her laptop. She quickly powered it on and scanned through the different programs until she came to the one she needed. She activated it as suddenly, a message appeared on her screen…

"_Aelita…come quickly. Help…me…_"

"Daddy?" she called out, seeing the words on the screen and instantly feeling a rush of adrenaline.

"_I need you. Hurry…_"

"I'm coming, Daddy!" she cried as she grabbed her things quickly and ran downstairs towards the sewer entrance near the Hermitage…

She raced quickly through the sewer paths before climbing up the ladder that exited onto the Factory bridge. Once she got to the lift entrance, she hit the button to take her to the Laboratory, and when she got to the Lab, she sat down and quickly punched open a program on her laptop. As soon as she had done that, a window appeared with a message in it, and beside the message was an image of Aelita's father!

"_Aelita, listen carefully_," she read aloud. "_I don't have much time. My power is dwindling and I need an energy source if I'm to remain alive. You must restart the Supercomputer. It is the only way! Hurry!_"

"Daddy, I'm coming!" she cried as she raced down to the basement room where the Supercomputer was housed. Trembling when she arrived, she took a long look at it, and then, thinking only of her father, she flipped the switch and watched as the Supercomputer rose out of the floor cavern where it was housed. She then took the lift back upstairs and went over to the Supercomputer displays, sitting down in Jeremy's chair and putting on the headset as everything came to life again. Once the screens were lit, she began scanning the Holomap and the Network when suddenly, a red exclamation point shot up onto the screen. She jumped as her fingers flew across the screen, trying to find the problem, when all of a sudden; another message window appeared on the screen.

"_Thank you, Aelita. Now you can rest assured that you have just reawakened your worst nightmare!_" As Aelita read these words, she screamed in shock and horror as the Eye of XANA appeared on the screen and the dormant SuperScan immediately came to life as XANA activated a Tower. Knowing that she couldn't alert the others, Aelita used shaking fingers to disable the SuperScan after getting the coordinates of the Tower and started the automatic virtualization sequence. She raced down to the scanners and slipped in before the doors closed, allowing the white light to envelop her before she appeared on Lyoko in Sector Five.

Meanwhile, back at Kadic, Jeremy and the gang were getting very concerned about Aelita…

"I don't know where she could be; this isn't like her!" Jeremy whispered to Ulrich.

"I know," Ulrich replied softly, making sure Mrs. Hertz wasn't paying attention. "Something's not right."

"But where would she have gone?" Odd asked a little too loudly as Mrs. Hertz looked their way.  
"Della Robbia? Something you want to share?"

"No, ma'am," Odd stammered. "Nothing at all."

"Very well, just please, please pay attention!" she growled as she went back to lecturing. As soon as she was facing the board and paying no attention, Odd said to Jeremy, "We need to find her!"

"I know," Jeremy said quietly as he was suddenly distracted by a soft beeping from his backpack. "What the—?" he whispered as he quietly pulled his laptop out of his bag and opened it. "Oh, no, this can't be—it's not possible!" he hissed.

"What is it?" Ulrich asked in concern.

"It's—it's—XANA!" Jeremy said, his voice breaking.

"What?" Odd gasped.

"We have to get to the Factory, now! Aelita's gone to Lyoko too! I knew this would happen…" Jeremy hissed as he raised his hand. "Mrs. Hertz, can I go to the infirmary? I think I ate some bad food this morning and I'm not feeling well…"

"Very well. Stern, take Belpois down to the nurse."

"Mrs Hertz, can I go to the bathroom?" Odd asked suddenly.

"I—all right, fine, Della Robbia. But hurry back!" As soon as she had said this the three friends slipped out of the classroom and ran for the park…

"Call Yumi and William, Ulrich! Tell them to meet us at the Factory!" Jeremy breathed as they ran.

In the 9th grade English class, Yumi and William were finishing a test when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She discreetly pulled it out and answered it quickly and quietly. "Jeremy? What's wrong? I—okay, we'll be right there," she whispered as she turned to William with a look on her face that he instantly understood, and the two quickly handed in their tests before racing for the park…

Meanwhile, on Lyoko, Aelita was being chased by Creepers and trying to maneuver a maze to gain access to the room with Sector Five's Tower, and she made a sudden turn but stopped with a start when she realized it was a dead end! She gasped as she turned around and saw five Creepers had her boxed in! She quickly fired an energy field that took out one Creeper, but was hit by a laser from one of the others. She jumped as she dodged another shot, and when they closed in, she closed her eyes and focused her mind as she laid a hand on the wall behind her, and just as the Creepers fired a barrage of lasers, she passed through the wall and resolidified it just as the lasers impacted the wall. Sighing, she ran down the path towards the Tower room, but was tripped when her leg was hit by another blast. She looked up to see a Manta hovering in the air in front of her and she jumped out of the way just in time as it fired another laser…

The rest of the gang raced for the lift when they arrived at the Factory, and when they reached the Laboratory, Jeremy looked at the readouts in horror…

"Aelita's being attacked by a Manta! She's in the Tower room, but she's only got 20 life points left!"

"Do we need to head for the scanners?" Odd asked.

"No! No one will make it in time! She's trapped!"

On Lyoko, Aelita was trying desperately to dodge the lasers from now two Mantas that were attacking her. Charging an energy field, she managed to take one of them out, but was hit again by laser fire from the other.

"She's only got five life points left!" Jeremy cried.

Aelita jumped back to dodge a laser while she charged one more energy field, and took a step back to fire, but…she had reached the edge of the floor, and as she released the orb and watched it take out the Manta…she began to fall backwards…

"She's falling! AELITA!" Jeremy cried as suddenly…

A figure raced out of the Tower and towards the edge as Aelita fell. She thought to herself, "_So this is what the end is like…? And I never even got to save Daddy…_" Suddenly, she felt a strong grip on her wrist, and she looked up to see a brown-haired boy about Ulrich's age with glasses and in a deep purple bodysuit holding her arm and beginning to pull her up until she was back safely on the path.

At the Factory, the others let out a pent-up sigh of relief as Aelita stopped falling.

"She's okay!" Jermey cried in relief.

Once Aelita was safely on the path, she looked at her rescuer's face, and she felt she recognized him…could it be? Yes! It was!

"You didn't think I would let you fall, did you, Princess? Now, don't you have a Tower to deactivate?" he asked with a smile as she got up and raced to the end of the path, jumping so that she collided with the Tower and passed safely through. She raced down to the center of the platform, and began floating up to the second platform, which she gracefully landed on. Walking up to the Interface, she placed her hand on the screen, and it beeped as it recognized her.

AELITA

CODE:

L-Y-O-K-O

She sighed as she watched the screens fall around her, and said, "Tower deactivated."

Allowing herself to float back down to the first platform, Aelita looked up as a set of purple ripples appeared and her savior entered the Tower.

"We need to go somewhere we can talk, don't we?" she asked him instantly.

"Yes. And somewhere no one will overhear," he said as they dived into the sea of data below the platform and transported themselves to a hidden room off of the Celestial Dome, the place where they had met once before…

Back on Earth, Jeremy was trying frantically to locate Aelita and this new life form reading that had apparently saved her life.

"I don't believe it! First she restarts the Supercomputer; then she almost gets herself killed, and now she runs off with someone that shouldn't even be on Lyoko and that we don't even know about? When she gets back, I will personally wring her neck!"

"Einstein, calm down, she had to have a good reason!" Yumi said as suddenly, Jeremy inadvertently opened the message window containing "Hopper's" message to Aelita.

"I don't believe this…XANA tricked her…she thought her father _was_ still alive…" Jeremy sighed.

"You can't blame her," William said as he laid a hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "You would have done the same thing if it were you."

"I know…" he sighed.

Back on Lyoko, Aelita and her hero were now safely in a room of Sector Five that blocked communications and Holomap readings, so they could not be discovered.

"Do you remember me?" he asked.

"Of course, Jacob. We met before, in this same place if I'm not mistaken," she replied. "You never did tell me how you came to be here on Lyoko. You said you were leaving here before we shut everything down…I had no idea we had trapped you…"

"Of course you didn't know. It was my choice," he replied solemnly. "I stayed to ensure that everything would remain peaceful. I never realized that XANA would go to such trickery to revive himself…"

"He posed as my father and convinced me to restart the Supercomputer. I can't believe I was so stupid!"

Meanwhile…

"I've found them!" Jeremy crowed triumphantly. "They're in a hidden room in Sector Five! And they thought they could outsmart me! Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, head for the scanners! It's time to bring our fugitive home."

"So, as for why I was on Lyoko, as you probably guessed, I'm not from here."

"So where are you from?" Aelita asked quizzically.

"A long way away…" he replied. "I've been virtualized too long to remember exactly… I ran from the virtual world I came from before XANA took it over and destroyed it…"

"There was another world? Did you have a Supercomputer?" she asked.

"Yes. My parents built it before I was born. They were government scientists paid to develop this project to create a virtual universe in which people could live safely. When it was finished, it was actually quite similar to Lyoko in a lot of ways. But, because it was connected to the Internet, XANA eventually found it, and absorbed its power before he finally had no further use for it and destroyed it. I barely managed to escape. My parents weren't so lucky…"  
"Oh…I'm so sorry…"

"It's okay," he replied, waving a hand as if to clear the air. "Anyways, I wandered the World Network for I don't know how long…until my ship finally came into contact with a life signal… I followed it, and eventually, he spoke to me…"

"Who?" Aelita asked.

"Your father. Franz Hopper."

"What?" Aelita choked. "You met my father?"

"Only once. He led me here, to Lyoko, and found a place for me to hide where I would be safe until XANA was no longer a threat. That's why when the multi-agent system was launched, I came out of hiding, and eventually came across you. I knew that I would be safe."

"But…? So you couldn't have left even if you wanted to before we shut the Supercomputer down. You had nowhere to go. Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped you! We could have gotten you out of here."

"Perhaps because I didn't trust much of anyone at that point…" Jacob sighed. "But I trust you, Aelita. Will you get me out of here?"

"Yes, of course. We'll just have to hook you up to our materialization program and you'll be out of here in no time!" Just as she said this, Odd fell through the fake wall disguising the room, and as soon as he looked up and saw the two standing in front of him, yelled back, "I found them!" After a moment, Ulrich and Yumi came through the wall. "Princess, you have a lot of explaining to do!" Odd said.

"I know, but first, this is Jacob. He's been a fugitive from XANA for a long time and he's been hiding on Lyoko. He told me my father brought him here."

"Hopper brought you here?" Yumi asked incredulously.

"Yes. It's nice to meet all of you, really, but I want to get out of here for a while. I'm tired of virtual surroundings."

"Let's go," she replied, and, taking Jacob's hand, the five walked back through the wall and headed for the Arena.

"Aelita!" Jeremy said quickly as they reappeared on the Holomap. "Are you crazy?"

"Jeremy, you have every right to be mad at me," she said quietly, hanging her head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten tricked. But right now I need you to link Jacob with the materialization system. We need to get him out of here."

"Jacob?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes. He's the one who saved my life. He's a fugitive from XANA. My…my father saved his life." After she said this, a long silence followed until Jeremy said, "Okay. Any friend of your father's is a friend of ours. I'll bring you all in." He tapped a few keys, and then Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi vanished, leaving Aelita and Jacob alone for a few moments.

"Aelita, there's something I forgot to tell you…"  
"It can wait. As soon as Jeremy brings me back to Earth, I'll help him with the program, and you'll be out of here."

"Okay," Jacob sighed as Aelita disappeared.

"Aelita, we'll talk about this later, okay?" Jeremy said crossly. "I don't like what you did, but I don't blame you. I think any one of us would have done the same thing. Right now…" Jeremy tapped a few more keys, "And it's done! Jacob's hooked up to the materialization program! I'm bringing him in!"

"To the scanner room, quick!" Aelita said.

Down at the scanners, Aelita waited nervously, with everyone else standing back, as the doors finally opened and the cloud of steam finally cleared…and huddled on the floor in a little ball was Jacob, the boy that had saved her life. He shook a bit before he finally looked up and saw Aelita and the gang, and Aelita ran over and hugged him, helping him up slowly.

"Welcome to Earth, Jacob," she said with a smile. "And before I forget, thank you for saving me!"

"So, all in favor of Jacob becoming a Lyoko Warrior?" Jeremy asked. Five hands immediately went up. Jeremy added his, which made six. "That's unanimous. Welcome to the club, Jake!"


	2. Episode 97: Secrets

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko! Moonscoop does!**

**Episode 97: Secrets**

"And this is your room," Jim said as he opened the door. It was simple, but it had cabinets, which were a luxury at Kadic, and a desk, which Jacob immediately put his bags and new laptop on. Jeremy had taken the initiative to download all of his programming onto Jacob's computer. He really was a computer nut, and Jeremy could see that they would get along real well.

"Thank's for the tour, Mr. Morales. This is a really nice establishment."

"Why, thank you. And please, call me Jim."

"I'll remember that, Jim," Jacob said as Jim closed the door, and it was immediately reopened as Odd crashed in.

"Hey, buddy!" he said as he looked around and sat on the freshly made bed. "Nice pad! And right next door too!"

"Yeah, at least they roomed me next to you guys. I can't believe that I'm finally back in the real world!"

"Great, isn't it? Hey, come on, let's go to breakfast and then we'll get your class schedule from the Principal. Hopefully, you'll end up in some of our classes!"

At the cafeteria…

"Morning, everyone!" Odd said cheerfully as he and Jacob sat down next to Ulrich and Aelita, who blushed as Jacob sat down next to her.

"Morning," William said back.

"Morning!" Jeremy relpied as he finished a bite of scrambled eggs and smiled. "How are you settling in, Jacob?"

"I'm okay, Einstein," the new boy replied. "It's all really different from my old school, back when I was in a school… But it's all really cozy. I like it."

"Hey, Ulrich, dear!" a familiar voice said as she came over to wreak havoc, as usual.

"And there goes the cozy," Odd said with a smirk as Sissy scowled.

"Why?" Jacob asked.

"Oh, don't listen to them! I'm Sissi Delmas, the Principal's daughter. I heard we had a new student. Except why you would hang with these losers is beyond me," she added. Sissi had tried to fit into the gang, but of course, within a few weeks, she was back to her usual no-good, obsessed-with-herself self, and Ulrich had told her to get lost from the group

"Hey!" Odd snapped.

"Calm down, Odd. I'll handle this," Jacob said as he got up and faced Sissi. "Look. I don't know who you think you are, but I'll hang with whoever I want to, and it's really none of your business. And oh, by the way, I think you've got friends already."

"What?" she snapped as she turned around and saw Herve and Nicolas gawking at her. "Get lost, you losers! Ughh!" she growled as she stormed off and Jacob sat back down.

"And that takes care of that!" he smiled.

"Wow, nice work, Jacob," Ulrich grinned. "I thought her father was the only one who could make her that mad!"

"I have my ways," he laughed.

"So what's your schedule look like?" Odd asked as Jacob ate a mouthful of eggs.

"Um…I've got Science in the morning with Mrs. Hertz…"

"You'll be with us, then," Jeremy said.

"Phys Ed with Jim before lunch…"

"With us," Odd said. "Well, except for Einstein. He hates Gym, so he never shows!"

"Hey!" Jeremy scowled.

"And after lunch I've got Italian…"

"They couldn't get him into another language class, so Delmas slotted him with Yumi and me," William explained.

"And I end with Math. Ugh…what a boring way to end the day."

"Don't worry about it, you're with Jeremy and Aelita then, so you're guaranteed to pass!" Ulrich smiled as Jeremy and Aelita blushed. Upon hearing the warning bell, the group got up, and Odd said, "That's the bell. Don't want to be late!"

In Science…

"Now, class, who can tell me what makes an element radioactive?" Jacob's hand immediately shot up before Jeremy or Aelita could even react. Mrs. Hertz looked flustered as she said, "Yes?"

"An element is radioactive because of the addition of neutrons in the nucleus, which makes the isotope unstable and causes it to give off radioactive energy," Jacob smiled as he finished.

"That was a textbook answer, and absolutely right! Wow," Mrs. Hertz smiled. "Class, if you didn't know, this is Jacob Matthews; he's a new student at Kadic Academy. Belpois, Stones, looks like you might have some competition!" she finished as Jacob turned and winked at the two of them, who smiled back.

In Gym…

"Now, class, we would like to extend a warm welcome to Jacob, who is our newest student here at Kadic Academy. And as such, he is going to be our guinea pig for today's lesson. Today, we're going to the climbing walls! Jacob, as you're the guinea pig, you can go first." At this, a look of fear and hesitation crept into Jacob's eyes, and he stuttered, "I—I—"

"Now, now, if you're a little scared, it's okay. You'll do fine." But that look of terror and nervousness would not leave Jacob's eyes as he slowly staggered towards the wall and grabbed hold of one of the rocks. He got his footing and lifted his right foot, and as he did, his pants leg shifted up enough for a glimpse of metal rods to be visible for just a moment, and a few murmurs rippled through the class as he tried to climb, but when he tried to place pressure on his right foot to go upward, he slipped and cried out as he came crashing down on the mat!

"Jacob!" Odd gasped as he and Ulrich ran over to him.

"Ow…" Jacob groaned as he winced and laid a hand on his ankle.

"You alright, buddy?" Ulrich asked as Jacob shook his head to clear the stars from his vision.

"Yeah…my ankle hurts though," he said. "I shouldn't have done that."

"Jim! I think Jake needs to go to the infirmary to get this leg checked out!" Ulrich said as Odd helped Jacob slowly to his feet. When Jake tried to put weight on the foot, he growled in pain and jerked it off the ground.

"Yeah, Della Robbia, help him down to the nurse. Uh…Belpois," Jim said, now looking guilty that an accident had happened in his class. "Why don't you have a go?"

In the nurse's office, Odd slowly helped Jacob into a bed, and almost immediately a nurse came over to attend to him.

"Oh, dear, your first day and you have an accident like this. Oh, I feel terrible for you, hon…" she said softly. "Now why don't you pull up that pant leg so we can see if there's been any damage done, hmm?" Jacob started to do as she had asked, but stopped when he saw Odd looking at him with a questioning look on his face. "Odd, don't freak out, okay?"

"Of course not! What do you take me for, a wimp?" Odd snapped cheerfully back as Jacob rolled up his pant leg to reveal a series of metal bars forming a brace around his right ankle. One of the bars was bent and appeared to be putting pressure on his ankle. "It's a brace; it helps my foot stay straight so I can walk. I was born with a defect," he explained. "It must have gotten damaged when I fell…"

"Well, let's slide it off here so we can have a look," the nurse said as she slid it off and gently probed his ankle. "Hmm…well, it doesn't appear to be broken, just bruised. I don't think you should have a ton of trouble walking on it, but you should ice it for a little while, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks," Jacob smiled as Odd helped him up and tied an ice pack around his ankle. "C'mon, I'll help you back to your room. I think you need to stay off that foot a while."

On Lyoko, in the Mountain Sector, a static hiss was heard as the glow around a Tower turned red…

In the real world, a shadowy spectre floated out of an electrical outlet and headed for the Academy, where it searched until it found the nurse who had treated Jacob and possessed her quickly. The Eye of XANA sparked in her eyes as she went on the hunt to find the gang…

"What?" Jacob asked as he heard a beeping from his room. Odd quickly opened the door and Jacob hobbled over to his laptop. He quickly opened it and saw the SuperScan pick up an activated tower.

"Oh, crud, now I'm gonna miss lunch!" Odd sighed as he picked up his phone and called Jeremy. "Jeremy?"

""_Yeah, Odd, what's wrong?_"

"Activated tower. We need to get to the Factory."

"_Okay. I left my laptop in my room by accident this morning so it's a good thing you and Jacob found out. We just got out of classes so I'll get the others and meet you two at the Factory._"

"Okay," Odd said as he turned around to see Nurse Corazon behind him. "Oh, you came to check on Jacob?" he asked as she fired a bolt of electricity, hitting him in the chest. "Ungh!" Odd groaned as Jacob turned with a start.

"Odd!" he cried as the XANA-fied nurse picked him up and delivered a shock through his body that was enough to make him see stars…

At the Factory, Yumi called Odd again and got no answer. "I hope they're all right."

"If XANA's attacking, maybe they're the targets. We need to deactivate that Tower in a hurry! Get to the scanners," Jeremy said as he ran to the computer.

Transfer Yumi, Transfer Ulrich, Transfer William.

Scanner Yumi, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner William.

Virtualization!

The three Warriors landed on Lyoko, and William took a few moments to look at himself. He was wearing the sleek silver bodysuit that he had worn before XANA had possessed him, and was wielding his Zweihander, which had lost the black vines that had wrapped around the hilt during XANA's possession. "Awesome. I'm back," he smiled.

Transfer Aelita.

Scanner Aelita.

Virtualization!

A few moments later, Aelita joined the three Warriors, and Jeremy said from overhead, "The activated Tower is North-Northeast. I'm materializing your vehicles!" he added as the Overbike and Overwing appeared after a moment. "William, I've created one for you, too," he added as a new vehicle which looked like a silvery, translucent disc appeared in front of him. It levitated off the ground like Odd's Overboard did, and William hopped onto it without hesitation. "This is the Overdisc. Enjoy!" Jeremy smiled as William took off behind the other two vehicles.

"Jeremy, it sounds like we've got company," Yumi said with a growl as she heard a faint buzzing.

"Yeah, you've got a swarm of Hornets on your tail! Get moving!" he said as the three vehicles took off towards the Tower. As they approached, Yumi said to Aelita, who was riding on the Overwing, "Last stop, Princess," as she descended towards the path leading to the Tower. Aelita jumped off and landed gracefully, waiting for Ulrich and William to arrive when suddenly, a barrage of lasers impacted around her and she quickly jumped out of the way.

"Energy Field!" she cried as she charged and released an orb, hitting the nearest Hornet and causing it to explode.

"Guys, you've got more trouble!" Jeremy said as William and Ulrich landed behind Aelita.

"We see the Tarantulas," Ulrich grimaced as he and William stood back to back. "On three?" he asked.

"Three!" William yelled as he and Ulrich ran towards the Tarantulas, blocking lasers with their swords.

"Hi-yahh!" Yumi yelled as she threw her fans towards the swarm, but they flew out of the way and successfully evaded them. "Ah!" she groaned as one of the Hornets hit her in the shoulder.

"Yumi, you just lost twenty life points! Be careful!" Jeremy warned.

"I'm trying; it's not easy in here!" she said as she gritted her teeth. "Maybe you should try it sometime!" she said as she threw her fans again and this time took out two of the Hornets.

"Super Sprint!" Ulrich grunted as he gained speed and jumped headlong towards one of the Tarantulas. "Hah, Impact!" he yelled as he thrust his sword through the Eye on its forehead, causing it to crouch in agony and explode. "Yes—uh…" he groaned as a laser to his back caused him to devirtualize. William saw this, and quickly threw his Zweihander at the Tarantula, just as it fired at him. The shot worked, as it sliced off the Tarantula's head and caused it to explode, but William couldn't dodge the laser shots in time and was devirtualized as well.

"Urgh!" he groaned as he slammed his fist against the side of the Scanner once he had been rematerialized.

"Gahhhh!" Jacob screamed as another surge of electricity sparked through him. As the XANA-fied nurse grabbed a chair and threatened to smash it into him, Odd tackled her forcefully to get her away from Jacob.

"Nobody messes with my friends!" he yelled as he put her into a headlock. But with XANA's powers she was too much for him and threw him off against the wall, after which he blacked out as she turned back to Jacob…

"Come on, Yumi! We're running out of time!" Jeremy said as she and Aelita continued to try and fight off the Hornets.

"Jeremy, I'm doing all I can!" she shot back as she threw her fans again towards the pair of Hornets, who evaded them and shot her in the back.

"Thirty life points left, Yumi!"

"Hi-yahh!" she yelled as she threw her fans again, and this time managed to take out one of the Hornets, but the other one was too quick for her, and before she could attack again, fired at the Overwing and devirtualized it, causing Yumi to gasp as she began to fall, and when she impacted the rocks, was devirtualized on contact.

"Oww…" she said as she rubbed her back once she had reappeared in the Scanner.

Meanwhile, Aelita had almost managed to reach the Tower when the last Hornet came after her, firing as fast as it could. She managed to evade most of the shots, but one managed to hit her foot, tripping her and causing her to fall. She managed to flip around quickly, and just as it closed in and was set to fire again, she cried, "Energy Field," and at such close proximity, it could not evade the blast, and exploded.

"All right, Aelita!" Jeremy crowed as she got up and ran for the Tower.

Aelita ran into the Tower and made it to the center of the bottom platform in a hurry. She focused, and began floating up to the second platform…

Meanwhile, Jacob was being continuously shocked as the XANA-fied nurse had him by his throat. He gurgled something inaudible as his vision began to go blurry…

Aelita landed on the second platform and walked to the Interface. She placed her hand on it, and the screen lit up, recognizing her.

AELITA

CODE:

L-

Jacob let out one last scream as Odd began to move, but the spectre just fired a bolt towards him too, and he cried out in pain…

Y-

"_So this is what its like to die…_" Jacob thought.

O-

"_I tried, Jeremy…_" Odd thought to himself. "_But I couldn't save him._"

K-

Jacob's vision began to go black as he began to give up the struggle to stay conscious…

O.

Aelita watched as the screens began to fall around her, and she said, "Tower deactivated."

"Ungh…" the nurse groaned as the spectre left her and she passed out on the floor. She dropped Jacob to the floor, and he shuddered as he drew in a raspy breath. Odd finally was able to get a hand on his cell phone, which he had dropped upon the nurse appearing, and with shaking fingers dialed Jeremy.

"Odd! Where are you guys? Are you okay?" he asked immediately.

"Jacob's hurt," Odd whispered croakily. "We need a Return Trip. Fast," he breathed as Jeremy was already punching the keys.

"Return to the Past, now!" Jeremy yelled as the familiar white bubble enveloped the surrounding area, and as Odd saw it coming towards Jacob's room, he smiled as he finally passed out…

In Gym…

"Now, class, we would like to extend a warm welcome to Jacob, who is our newest student here at Kadic Academy. And as such, he is going to be our guinea pig for today's lesson. Today, we're going to the climbing walls! Jacob, as you're the guinea pig, you can go first." At this, a look of fear and hesitation crept into Jacob's eyes, and he stuttered, "I—I—"

"Now, now, if you're a little scared, it's okay. You'll do fine." But that look of terror and nervousness would not leave Jacob's eyes as he slowly reached down and pulled up his pants leg and revealed his metal brace to the students, who gasped and murmured.

"I've got a problem with my foot, Jim. It might not be a smart idea."

"Oh, ok then, that's understandable," Jim stammered as he thought quickly. "Ok then, Belpois! To the climbing walls! Since you finally decided to show up," Jim added as Aelita and Odd laughed.

"See? This is why I hate Gym class!" Jeremy scowled. "It's always me!" he complained as the class burst out into laughter.


	3. Episode 98: The Element of Surprise

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko! Moonscoop does!**

**Episode 98: The Element of Surprise**

"So, Einstein, what did you want us all at the Factory for?" Jacob asked as he arrived in the Lab on the Lift.

"Well, some of you are here to observe, but you, Ulrich, and William are going to the Arena."

"In Sector Five?" Ulrich asked in surprise. "Why?"

"Well, after we sent William as a cold rookie last time and he…well…"

"We know what happened, Jeremy," William scowled. "Where's the point in this?"

"Well, I decided that we should send you and Jacob to the Arena for a training session, so you can learn to use your powers and figure out what they are. That way it will be easier for you two to fight when we get into major combat."

"Oh, okay, that makes sense," William said as Jacob merely nodded.

"We drew straws, and Ulrich will be your sparring partner, but the others will be going along as observers, and to be there just in case XANA tries anything tricky. Okay?"

"Got it, Jeremy; let's go!" Jacob said excitedly as the group rushed for the Scanners.

Transfer Ulrich, Transfer William, Transfer Jacob.

Scanner Ulrich, Scanner William, Scanner Jacob.

Virtualization!

Transfer Odd, Transfer Yumi, Transfer Aelita.

Scanner Odd, Scanner Yumi, Scanner Aelita.

Virtualization!

The familiar zipping sound was heard as the six Warriors were virtualized into the Arena, which Jeremy had reprogrammed to be larger than usual for battle purposes.

"Cool!" Odd said as he walked around. "It's spacious now! I like it, Jeremy!"

"Well, it looks like we're all here," Ulrich said. "Shall we begin, rookies?"

"Oh, you did not just say that, Stern!" William snapped back as he hefted his Zweihander.

"What'cha gonna do about it?" Ulrich taunted.

"This!" William cried as he charged at Ulrich. Just as he was swinging his Zweihander, Ulrich nimbly sidestepped out of the way.

"Work on a way to take down faster enemies. Your drawback is that your sword is a bit weighty. Think about agility," he added as William faced him again.

He flashed back to his broken memories of his time under XANA's control, and he focused his subconscious for a moment before swinging his Zweihander again, which was now much lighter to wield. "Hey, Jeremy was right about your subconscious desires. That helps." He continued to flash through his broken memories until he found the one he wanted. "Well, I know one of my powers. Super Smoke!" William cried as he vanished into a puff of silver smoke and reappeared behind Ulrich. "Hah!" William cried as he swung his sword, and Ulrich barely had time to turn and raise his sabres to deflect the blow.

"Better, now let's see you use that agility!" Ulrich said. "Super Sprint!"

"Super Smoke!" William said as the two began a speed battle, with William popping up occasionally to clash blows with Ulrich before Ulrich finally tripped him when he reformed. Holding the tip of his sabre at William's head, he said, "Good. Not great; not yet, but I think you've got the hang of this," he complemented as he pulled William up and smiled. "I'm ready for Round Two, so bring it on, Jacob!" he smiled as Jacob stepped towards the center of the Arena. Finally stopping to take a good look at his Lyoko form, he realized…

"Jeremy, I don't have any weapons."

"Uh…I'm not sure. Focus your mind. Maybe you'll get a clue…" he said as Jacob closed his eyes and began to focus on the core of his being and siphon all of his energy. He moved the pent-up energy up to his center, and then began shooting it towards his fingertips until a spark appeared from his hand, followed by a crackling and finally…

"So that's what his power is!" Aelita exclaimed as a deep purple Energy Field crackled to life in his hand. He extinguished it and practiced summoning the orb several times until he could do it at a moment's notice.

"Cool!" he exclaimed. I'm ready, Ulrich!" he said as Ulrich smirked with the faintest hint of a smile.

"Super Sprint!" Ulrich yelled as he took off and tried to confuse Jacob with his speed before rushing in and slashing at him. Jacob quickly summoned two orbs and melded them together, forming a purple energy shield to block the blow. "Not bad," Ulrich smiled, "But let's see you play offense!" Jacob then created an Energy Field and fired it at Ulrich, who simply used his Super Sprint to dodge it before it reached him. This onslaught continued for a few moments more until Jacob stopped suddenly and closed his eyes. He didn't know why; he just felt that there was a way he could stop Ulrich long enough to win the fight. He opened his mouth, and a chorus of melodies could be heard ringing through the Arena as recognition dawned on Aelita's face. He focused his mind not on where Ulrich was standing, but where he somehow knew he would dash to as soon as he fired, and so, he fired a first Energy Field straight at Ulrich, who dashed away, and immediately Jacob opened his eyes and willed a block to form from the wall right where Ulrich was moving to, and the block protruded out of the wall at the perfect angle so that Ulrich could not dodge it, and he crashed into it and fell to the ground. Immediately, Jacob was over him and holding an Energy Field at his chest.

"I win," Jacob smiled as Ulrich relaxed and gave in.

"Nice job, man. I never saw that coming," he sighed as Jacob helped him up. "How did you do that?"

"Uh…I'm not sure. I just willed the section of wall to materialize, and it did."

"It's Creativity," Aelita explained as she came over. "I have the same power. It will allow you to manipulate the terrain, and pretty much anything you can come up with on Lyoko. You can build walls, bridges, clones…"

"Way cool," Jacob smiled.

"Why does he get all the special stuff?" William asked.

"Trust me, William," Jeremy answered. "I think there're some powers you haven't discovered yet too. Not even these three (referencing Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich) discovered all of their abilities in one shot. You'll have your day."

"Okay," he said a little dejectedly.

"So, Jacob, how did you know where to place the block to ensure Ulrich collided with it?" Odd asked.

"Um…when I focused, I could see where he was going to run, but I was seeing it through his eyes. It was a little strange."

"Telepathy…" Yumi whispered. "You were reading Ulrich's mind!"

"I was?" Jacob asked in surprise. "I always wanted to be able to do that!"

"Wow, Jacob, you have quite the subconscious. It will be a valuable gift having you on our team," Jeremy said, grinning.

"Thanks, Jeremy," he replied, a little embarrassed.

Meanwhile, in the Desert Sector, a sudden influx of energy causes a Tower to glow red…

In the Scanner Room, two clouds of smoke appear from the cables and morph into Jim and Principal Delmas. They share a quick look and then begin climbing the ladder towards the Laboratory…

Jeremy is suddenly distracted by a sudden beeping on his screen. He pulls up the SuperScan and sees the activated Tower message. "Uh, guys, I'd love to continue this training session, but we've got bigger problems. XANA has activated a Tower in the Desert Sector! It's time to go to work! Get to the Celestial Dome, and then I'll open a tunnel. Hurry!"

The path out of the Arena opens into the Core Zone, and the gang quickly traverses the room until they reach the exit tunnel on the other side and follow it out to the Celestial Dome. Jacob is taken aback by the beauty of the data screens forming the sphere around the Sector.

"Wow, it's amazing," he said in awe.

"You can admire later, Jacob. Right now we have a Tower to deactivate. I'm calling your taxis!" he said as the Overboard, Overwing, Overbike, and Overdisc appeared. "I put the finishing touches on the one you and Aelita were working on the other day, Jacob. I hope you like it," he said as he pressed enter and one more vehicle materialized. This vehicle looked like a floating metal sphere, with a seat and tech-y steering controls on top. "Look good?"

"Sleek, Einstein!" Jacob answered cheerfully. "You finished it even better than I could have!" he said as he hopped into the driver's seat and the five vehicles, with Aelita pairing with Yumi on the Overwing, took off towards the data walls.

"I'm opening the tunnel!" Jeremy said as one of the data streams vanished and the Warriors flew out through the tunnel. When they reached the other end they could see the yellow-orange color of the Digital Sea that meant they had reached the Desert Sector. They flew towards the nearest path, and landed safely. "The tower is located northeast of your current position. Let's go, guys," Jeremy said as the vehicles took off again.

The polymorphs, by this time, had reached the Laboratory, and were trying to sneak up on Jeremy when the Jim polymorph kicked a screw that was lying on the floor. It rattled enough to warn Jeremy, and he turned in time to see the two specters with the Eyes in their pupils. The Delmas spectre lunged at him, but he managed to jump out of the way in time. "Guys, I'm going to need some help back here! XANA's sent two polymorphs to the Factory! I—I…" the rest of his sentence was cut off in static…

"Jeremy? Jeremy?" Aelita called. "Someone needs to go!" she gasped.

"I'll go!" Odd said instantly.

"I'll go too," Yumi offered.

"All right, on three, Yumi, I'll devirtualize you, and Ulrich, you devirtualize me," Odd said.

"Gladly," Ulrich laughed as he readied his sabre.

"One, two, three!" Odd yelled as he fired his Laser Arrow at the same moment Ulrich sliced him with his sabre. A moment later, the two were sitting in the Scanners and could hear the clamor above them. "Let's go!" he said to Yumi as they ran for the lift.

Back on Lyoko, the four remaining Warriors were heading down a long, narrow path towards a crater which held the activated Tower. When they arrived at the top of the spiral path leading down to the pit, William commented, "It looks easy enough."

"Don't be so sure. It would be just like XANA to lure us into a trap," Aelita replied as they made their way along the spiral path towards the Tower. When they were halfway down, Jacob and Aelita heard a rumbling noise, and Aelita yelled, "Stop, you two! Something's coming…"

"What?" William asked as suddenly…

"Agh!" Jeremy yelled as he was clipped by a lightning bolt from one of the specters. He shook his head to clear the stars as the two clones came at him again when all of a sudden…

"Hey, ugly and uglier! Stay away from my friend!" Odd yelled as he grabbed a metal pipe from the floor next to him. "Bonzai!" he yelled as he and Yumi charged the two polymorphs. As they dragged the polymorphs off of Jeremy, Yumi said, "We'll get them out of here! You worry about Lyoko!"

"Okay, Jeremy nodded as he slipped back to the computer and put his headset, which had been knocked off in the struggle, back on. "Guys, I'm back. We had a little…"

"No time, Jeremy! Something's happening, but I can't tell what it is!" Aelita said nervously. "Can you give us a heads-up?"

"Yeah, okay, let me see…" Jeremy said as suddenly his screens lit up with Alert messages. "Oh, no, this is not good!" he said. "XANA's accessing reserve power from a Replika! I don't know how, but…anyways it looks like he's mobilizing an army…" Just as Jeremy finished with that sentence, Jacob said "Look!" and the four of them saw the Tower glow ever brighter red as suddenly, an army of at least 100 Krabes was materialized in the pit!

"Holy…"

"Crap…" Jacob finished for Ulrich as they looked at the mass of monsters now guarding the Tower. "Any ideas, Einstein?"

"Uh…" Jeremy stuttered nervously. "I'll try to come up with something here, but for now I guess you'll have to take them out one by one."

"Are you crazy?" Aelita shot back. "It's suicide!"

"Well, we have to try, don't we, Princess?" Ulrich asked as he and William made a dash for the end of the spiral path to face the Krabes. Once the four were facing XANA's army, William looked at Ulrich, and said, "You ready?"

"Ready," he replied.

"Charge!" William yelled as the two boys pulled out their swords and began melee-attacking the Krabes. Ulrich was able to block some of the lasers with his sabres and managed to jump on top of one of the Krabes, yelling "Impact!" as he thrust his sabre into the Eye before jumping to the next Krabe and doing the same. After he had taken out about five of them in this manner, he looked over to see William struggling to fend off three of them and their advancing lasers as they back him into a corner. He immediately sliced the Krabe he was on top of and cried "Super Sprint!" as he leapt off of its back, hoping he could make it to help in time, but he was half a second too late as the middle Krabe fired off a perfectly-aimed shot that William could not dodge at such close range, and just as Ulrich reached him, William was devirtualized.

"Ow…" William said as he got up from the floor of the Scanner. "Head shots hurt."

"Hey, that was my friend!" Ulrich yelled at them, causing them to turn slightly and charge their lasers to fire. "Triplicate!" Ulrich yelled as his body split. "Super Sprint!" He took off and timed a leap from the ground so that he and his two clones landed on the three Krabes' backs and he cried "Impact!" as three swords were simultaneously stabbed into the Eyes on the Krabes' backs. He lept off as his exploded, and said "Fusion!" as he raced back to where Aelita and Jacob had hidden themselves. "This is never going to work. There's just too many of them!"

"I know. It looks like it's over…" Aelita sighed in defeat as Jacob closed his eyes and thought for a moment, letting the energy spark at his fingertips… Suddenly, a vision flashed through his mind of a crashing thunderbolt from the sky, and he felt energy surge through him as he suddenly came up with an idea.

"I've got it," he muttered.

"What? You have an idea?" Aelita asked him.

"Yeah. Stand back, though; I don't want to see you two get hurt if it doesn't work right." So, once Aelita and Ulrich were safely out of range, he stood up and came out from behind the rock that they had been hiding behind, and faced the Krabes as they all turned to look at him. He closed his eyes and summoned an Energy Field in his hand, and then began focusing on lightning; on what he wanted it to be. He willed it to change, and when it he saw it wasn't working, he began to shake with exertion as he focused even more energy into his fingertips, and finally, the sphere began to glow with a bright gold color as it shifted into a mass of sparks around his first two fingers. He looped them around, leaving a trail of lightning in their path, and pulled the two fingers close to his side before thrusting them forward and releasing a massive bolt of electricity that hit the first Krabe, and then began conducting itself through the entire mass! As they took the overcharge, the Krabes squealed, and all began to explode into bits as Jacob sank down on one knee and Ulrich ran over to help him up.

"Dude! That. Was. Amazing!" he grinned as the last Krabe sank down and exploded.

"Ow…I've got a major headache now, though…" he replied with a groan.

"I'm not surprised," Jeremy answered. "You used so much energy to do that that you spent 80 life points. Aelita, go on and deactivate the Tower!" Jeremy added.

"The way is clear, Princess," Jacob weakly smiled as Aelita ran into the Tower.

"Ungh!" Odd yelled as the polymorph threw him against the wall. Yumi grabbed the pipe and struck the Jim clone on the back of the head, but the Delmas clone grabbed her arm and delivered a fierce shock through it which dropped her to her knees…

Aelita reached the second floor of the Tower and reached up to place her hand on the Interface.

The clone sent another shock through Yumi as the Jim clone put a XANA charge through Odd for the second time in three days…

AELITA

CODE:

L-Y-O-K-O.

Aelita looked around her as the screens began to fall, but as one of them started to move; she put her hand up to stop it, seeing something interesting. It was a file, and as she rifled through it, she found what looked to be a strand of DNA.

"Aelita, what's going on?" Jeremy asked suddenly as in the main Factory entrance, the two polymorphs vanished. Yumi got up shakily and went over to Odd, checking to make sure he was okay before phoning Jeremy. "Yumi?" he asked.

"Hey, Jeremy, we're okay," Yumi said as Odd got up.

"Yeah, never better, Einstein," he grinned.

"Okay, great!" Jeremy smiled as he turned back to the screen. "Aelita, what's up?"

"Um, Jeremy, I found a file in this Tower. It's got a lot of data in it, but its all encrypted, and there's something here that looks like a DNA strand. I can't be sure though," she muttered.

"Okay, transmit it to the Supercomputer and I'll try to analyze it. I'll bring you in," he added when the transfer process was finished.

Back in the Computer Lab, Jeremy was busy trying to decrypt the file that Aelita had found. As he left the computer to do its work, he turned around to face the other members of the group.

"I'm not entirely sure what all is in that file that you found, Aelita, but I'll work at deciphering it. For now, we have a more pressing problem. XANA's revealed that he still has Replikas in the Network that somehow survived the multi-agent system."

"It's okay, Einstein!" Odd replied cheerily.

"Right, Odd," Jacob agreed. "It doesn't matter what we're up against with XANA; whenever he attacks, we'll counterattack! And we'll find a way to stop him once and for all!"

"I know, Jacob," Jeremy agreed. "So, our first job, now that we know what we're up against, will be to rebuild the Skid," Jeremy sighed. "But I don't have any of the programs left from before. It's going to take some time."

"I'll help you with the algorithms, Jeremy," Jacob smiled. With you, me, and Aelita, we'll have the ship rebuilt in no time!"

Ulrich: Ooh…pretty lightning!

Jacob: Come on, man, it wasn't _that_ impressive!

Aelita: Now, now, boys, play nice!

94X: Yeah, or else!

Jacob: What?

94X: Bad things will happen! Haha! Read and review!


	4. Episode 99: A Healing Face

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko! Moonscoop does!**

**Episode 99: A Healing Face**

"Shh!" Odd said as he and Ulrich crept into Jacob's room.

"Odd, he'll kill you if you do something stupid!" Ulrich hissed.

"But he's the newbie!" Odd whined. "I always prank the newbies! I did with William!"

"Not the same. You might…" Ulrich trailed off.

"I won't hurt him! Not on purpose," Odd added.

"Yeah, it's the accident part that I'm worried about," Ulrich growled as Odd crept over to the side of Jacob's bed, and bent over so that he was next to Jacob's ear and yelled, "GOOD MORNING, SLEEPYHEAD!" Jacob yelped and jumped up, looking around wildly as Odd burst out laughing.

"That gets them every time!" he snickered as Jacob finally woke up enough to realize what had happened.

"Odd! You are so gonna get it!" he screamed as Ulrich wisely got out of the way when a pillow was thrown at Odd's head. He caught it and smiled as he gently pushed Jacob back onto the bed.

"Oh, come on, can't you take a joke?"

"Really? It's Saturday…"

"That's the point! You've been pranked, courtesy of Odd Della Robbia," he smirked as Jeremy and Aelita came over to see what the matter was.

"Hey guys…uh-oh, what happened, Jacob?" Jeremy asked as soon as he saw the state of affairs.

"Odd happened…" he growled.

"Odd, was pranking him really necessary?" Aelita smiled as she helped Jacob up.

"Of course!" he whined. "He's the new kid! You guys know I always prank the newbies! I did with you _and_ with William!"

"True," Aelita replied. "But…"

"Oh, whatever…" Odd replied. "Now can we get some breakfast? I'm starving!" he added as everyone laughed and the gang headed to get some chow…

Down in the cafeteria, Odd was already shoveling in his food by the time Jeremy and Jacob returned with their trays.

"So, Jacob, I've been working nonstop on the programs to try and rebuild the Skid, but I've run into a snag."

"Hmm?" Jacob asked. "What kind of snag?"

"Well…" he started to explain before Aelita cleared her throat and looked at Jeremy. "Basically, the programming's been corrupted and there's no way I can find to fix it at the moment."

"Do you want me to take a look at it?" Jacob asked him.

"You can if you want, but I don't think it'll do much good. The Skid's going to be on hold a while until I can find a way to repair the program I need to begin the rebuilding."

"And that means we have no way of getting through the Digital Sea…" Ulrich sighed.

"Exactly. I'll keep working on it though; there's got to be a way to fix it," he added as everyone suddenly noticed Odd staring off into space.

"Odd?" Jacob asked as he snapped his fingers in front of Odd's face.

"Huh—what?" he asked as the noise brought him back to his senses. "Oh, sorry, guys…"

"It's okay, Odd; you looked deep in thought," Yumi smiled as Odd turned his head to watch a dark-skinned girl pass their table. "Is that—?"

"Uh-huh," Odd nodded as he watched her sit at another table. "That's what I was trying to figure out! It's Sam!" he grinned excitedly.

"Oh, so now you'll be utterly distracted again, huh, Odd?" Ulrich laughed.

"Wait, who's Sam?" William and Jacob said at the exact same time.

"Oh, Samantha was at Kadic on and off in the past," Aelita explained. "And someone with a purple streak in his hair has a HUGE crush on her!" she grinned as Odd punched her playfully in the shoulder.

"I do not!" he scowled as Sam heard his voice cut through the crowd and turned around.

"Odd, hey!" Sam smiled as she got up and walked over to their table.

"Oh, hey Sam, how's life rolling for ya?" he grinned.

"It's rolling," she replied. "I'm just in for the weekend while the big skateboarding championship is going on. How are you guys?"

"We're doing well," Aelita replied before Odd could spit a word out. "And this is Jacob, by the way. He just moved here a few weeks ago."

"Pleasure," Sam smiled as she shook Jacob's hand warmly. "So, Odd, since I'm here, do you want to go out for a while this afternoon?"

"Sure!" Odd replied enthusiastically as Jeremy scowled. "I'd love to! We can catch up, for old time's sake."

"Maybe not so old," she laughed. "Well, I'll see you guys later!" she said with a wave as she got up and walked out. No more had she gone than Jeremy was scowling at Odd.

"Odd! You know we have a mission to attend to this afternoon! We need to go to Sector Five so I can get some data to hopefully repair the rendering software for the Skid!"

"Aw, but Jeremy…" Odd complained. "There's more than enough of us to go to Lyoko even without me! You'll survive for one afternoon!"

"Odd, we…"

"No, Einstein! You can't stop me from going!" he said huffily as he got up, tossed his tray angrily into the trash can, and stormed out of the cafeteria to go and catch up with Sam.

"Wow," Jacob said softly.

"I know he likes her," Jeremy said, "but he needs to figure out what's important!"

"This is important to him, Jeremy," Ulrich said simply. "And we can manage fine."

"That's not the—oh, never mind," Jeremy sighed. "We don't have classes today, so we'd better get to the Factory if we want to be back before curfew tonight."

At the Factory, Jeremy quickly got the computers whirring as the others headed down to the Scanners.

"Okay, so remember, this is strictly an information gathering mission, so please, don't do anything reckless!" he stressed. "Are you guys ready?"

"Roger, Einstein," William said. "Fire it up!"

"Alright," Jeremy smiled.

Transfer William, Transfer Jacob, Transfer Aelita.

Scanner William, Scanner Jacob, Scanner Aelita.

Virtualization!

Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Yumi.

Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Yumi.

Virtualization!

Moments later, the five Warriors appeared on Lyoko in the Arena, and once he had dropped safely to the ground, Jacob grinned and said, "Houston, we have achieved liftoff!"

"Houston reads you loud and clear," Jeremy laughed. "Now, head through the maze and towards the Celestial Dome. You'll be able to get to the Interface there," he finished as they ran through the door when it opened and came out into the Core Zone, where they saw a bunch of floating platforms crossing to the other side.

"Uh, no maze, Einstein; all we've got is a bunch of floating blocks. Can we have some vehicles?" Ulrich asked. "It'd make life a lot easier flying over the pit than falling," he laughed.

"Coming right up," Jeremy smiled as the Overbike, Overwing, Overwheel, and Overdisc appeared after a moment. "Head to the next room. It's on your right," Jeremy directed as the five of them took off. As soon they arrived in the next room, they began to zoom forward, when suddenly; a laser blast sailed over Jacob's head. "You've got some Creepers on your tail!" he added.

"We'll shake them!" Jacob said. "Yumi, take Aelita on to the Interface. We'll handle these lugs!"

"You got it!" Yumi said as she raced off on the Overwing, leaving the three boys to land, ditch their vehicles, and deal with the Creepers.

"Well then, let's take out these slime balls!" Jacob grinned.

"With pleasure," Ulrich agreed as he sprinted towards the wall and began to run up it, jumping off when he knew he would land on the platform with the Creeper, and quickly sliced it in half, causing it to explode instantly. Jacob then ran towards the second one, and charged up an energy field while he nimbly dodged its lasers blasts, and when he was close enough to fire without missing, released the orb and watched with satisfaction as the beast was enveloped in a purple casing of energy and subsequently exploded. William, however, decided he was going to dispatch his the old fashioned way, and ran towards it, flipping in mid-air to land on top of it and pummel it with fist-blows before taking its head off with his Zweihander. "There, that finishes that," he smirked. "Now, let's—unh!" he groaned as he was devirtualized by a shot to the head from a fourth Creeper that had appeared behind him. Jacob turned and saw this, and immediately fired a lightning bolt at it, watching as sparks traveled across its skin and it then burst into pieces.

"I've got to remember to check behind me!" William growled as he stepped out of the Scanner.

On the Ice Sector, all was quiet for the most part…until a Tower's bright white aura suddenly changed to red…

A shadowy spectre came out of the electrical socket in the boys washroom, and before one of the boys could react, it was entering him through his mouth and nose, and he growled evilly as he dug his nails into the boy next to him. Before long, half of the boys at Kadic Academy were under possession…

In the Celestial Dome, Aelita and Yumi were in the process of transferring a massive amount of data back to the Supercomputer when Jeremy was distracted by the beeping of the SuperScan. "Girls, I don't mean to interrupt, but XANA has just launched an attack. The Tower is in the Ice Sector."

"Okay, Jeremy, just a moment. I found one file that I think we need to look at," Aelita finished as she sent the last file to the Supercomputer and closed the Interface. Just as she had done so, Jacob and Ulrich ran up to join them.

"Sorry," Jacob panted. "The Creepers gave us a little more trouble than we expected."

"Where's William?" Yumi asked.

"He got taken out on the way here. What's this about a XANA attack, Jeremy?" Ulrich asked.

"XANA has just activated a Tower in the Ice Sector. I'll rematerialize your vehicles and open a tunnel so you can get there as fast as possible." No more had he finished than the vehicles reappeared and the tunnel to the Ice Sector opened.

"Let's ride," Jacob said as the four of them zoomed into the tunnel.

Meanwhile…Odd and Sam were walking back to Kadic after having lunch in town.

"I really enjoyed today, Sam," Odd said, trying to hide a faint blush.

"I did too," Sam smiled. "I'm glad I came back to see you."

"What?" he asked in surprise. "But I thought you had a skateboarding championship?"

"Nope," she grinned. "I came back to hang out with you. I convinced my parents to let me come here for a few days. I'm staying with my cousin."

"I…" Odd was stunned. He had never had a girl come back for him. And Sam had dumped him. Did this mean…?

"I…I'm sorry, Sam," he said as they reached the school gates and he hung his head a bit. "I don't think I want a major commitment with anyone right now," he said as he realized what was more important, helping keep the world safe. "It's not that I don't like you…" Because he did! A lot, actually. "But I don't know that I have the time right now," he sighed.

"It's okay, Odd," she said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "I get it. You need to focus on other things. It's okay," she smiled as she turned around and ran into a wall of Kadic students. "Uh, what's going on?" As soon as Odd saw this, he looked up and saw the Eye of XANA in all of the kids' pupils.

"Uh, not good things!" Odd said as he grabbed her hand. "We gotta get out of here!" he yelled as he dragged her along. The kids began to run after him, and one of the boys fired a lightning bolt from his hand that just clipped Sam's leg, and she yelped in pain.

"Did I just imagine that, or did that kid shoot electricity from his hand?" she asked Odd.

"Uh, let's just say you imagined it," he said as she stopped asking questions and ran beside him.

Back on Lyoko, the four Warriors had made it safely to the edge of the Ice Sector, while William had joined Jeremy in the Lab, when suddenly, the computer rang, and Jeremy answered his phone quickly. "Odd? Where are you? I thought you were on a date with Sam?"

"Uh, yeah, about that, it's become a bit of a nightmare!" he replied. "We're being chased by a bunch of possessed students! I managed to lose them in the woods, but we can't get away from them for too long! They seem to keep finding us!"

"Okay, Odd. Hold out for as long as you can. Hopefully by then Aelita will have deactivated the Tower."

"Will do, Einstein," Odd replied as he hung up and turned to Sam. "I'm sorry this turned out to be such a lousy day…" he muttered.

"No, it's okay," she replied. "I still got to hang out with a friend of mine. That counts for something," she replied as Odd turned away and smiled. "Ah!" she groaned as one of the kids grabbed her wrist and began pulling her away. "Odd, help me!"

"Sam!" Odd yelled as he ran after the kid and broke his grip on Sam's wrist. "Run! Get out of here!" he ordered her as he turned to face the XANA-fied students. "Why don't you pick on me instead?" he asked as they charged him.

When the four Warriors got close enough to see the Tower, Aelita said, "Jeremy, we can see the Tower!"

"Roger. You've got company, though. Be careful," he warned as Jacob looked down to see three Tarantulas guarding the area around the Tower.

"Ulrich, you and Yumi deal with the Tarantulas! Let me take Aelita!"

"Okay!" Yumi replied as she flew down close enough for Aelita to jump in the seat next to Jacob. As soon as she had, he took off to try and loop around to the back of the Tower.

"Well, Princess, XANA just had to play difficult," he sighed as they looped around and saw a pair of Bloks as well. He descended to land on the path closest to the island that the Tower was on and smiled. "Last stop. Everyone off!" he cried as he and Aelita jumped off and he flung the Overwheel in the direction of one of the Bloks, destroying the Blok on contact. "One point for me!" he grinned.

"Hi-yahh!" Yumi cried as she flung her fans at one of the Tarantulas. They just missed, and she had to go on the defense as it began to fire a barrage of lasers at her, which she adeptly blocked with her fans. She wasn't quick enough to block every one, though, and took a shot to the chest.

"Yumi, you just lost twenty life points," Jeremy warned.

"Hi-yahh!" she yelled as she threw her fans again, but the Tarantula was smart enough to fire a laser at one of them, deflecting it into the other and sending them both flying off target. It then let loose a barrage of lasers that Yumi barely avoided, but her acrobatics while she dodged had taken her too close to the edge, and she slipped backwards, beginning to fall over the edge.

"Yumi!" Ulrich gasped a she saw this, and quickly threw a sabre her direction, managing to hit her in the stomach and devirtualize her before she landed in the Digital Sea. 'Oh no, you didn't!" Ulrich growled as the three Tarantulas ganged up and turned to face him. "Triplicate!" he yelled as he began to sprint around the three Tarantulas. "Triangulate!" He ran around the three beasts with his clones until they were thoroughly confused, and then swept in and destroyed them all with a couple of quick slices. "That's what you get for messing with Yumi," he said defiantly.

On the other side of the Tower, Jacob and Aelita were trying to take out the last Blok, but it was giving them some trouble.

"Wings!" Aelita said as she waved her hand over her bracelet and took off. "Energy Field!" she cried as she fired an orb at the Blok, but it missed its target and fired a laser at her, deactivating her wings and causing her to take a hard fall to the ground.

"Energy Field!" Jacob yelled as he formed an orb, but before he could fire it," the Blok turned to face him and fired a freeze ray at it. Jacob barely had time to react and raise his hand before the ray came into contact with the energy orb. It did not shatter though; instead, it absorbed the beam and changed to a light blue color, and Jacob then condensed it and fired it back at the Blok, but what blasted from his hand was not the orb itself, it was a ray of the blue energy, which froze the Blok solid on contact, incapacitating it!

"Nice trick, Jacob!" Aelita smiled as he walked over and helped her up. "Looks like lightning isn't the only thing you can form with your Energy Fields," she smiled.

"Guess not!" he grinned as Ulrich raced around the circular path to where the two of them were standing and looked across the large gap to the little island where the Tower was standing.

"There's no path," Jacob observed.

"Well, jumping's out of the question, Aelita," he said grimly as he distanced the gap. "You'd never make it."

"And I can't fly over there because that stupid Blok hit me while I was in the air! How are we supposed to get to the Tower?" she asked in frustration.

Sam was watching from behind a tree in the park as Odd continued to fight off the XANA-fied kids. He was doing all of this to protect her! She blushed a little at the thought. And he said he didn't like her…

Meanwhile, Odd was trying to beat away three of the kids, who were trying to shock him, with a tree branch he had grabbed off the ground.

"Stay away, you little heathens! You don't want to see me get really mad!" Odd said as he swung the branch at one of them, who jumped out of the way and broke the limb before shooting Odd with a nasty shock that caused him to fall backwards. "I hate being the brunt of XANA's attacks…" he muttered as they shocked him again and caused him to bite his tongue to keep from crying out in pain. As Sam watched this, a tear dripped down her cheek as she stood there, hiding, and helpless to do anything.

"Wait!" Jacob said suddenly as Aelita gave him a strange look.

"Do you have an idea, Jacob?" she asked him as he summoned a blue sphere of energy.

"I've got it!" he said as he fired the ice ray and began forming an ice bridge between the circle they stood on and the Tower. As he sealed it together, Aelita said, "That's brilliant!" and kissed him on the cheek. Had he been on Earth, Jacob would have been blushing brilliantly.

"Well, that takes care of that problem. Your Tower, Princess," Jacob said with a slight bow that made Ulrich chuckle as Aelita raced into the Tower. She reached the center and began floating up to the second platform…

Odd looked up to see Sam watching everything from where she was hidden, and he tried to mouth "_Run_," to her, but couldn't when one of the boys tackled him and tried to put him in a headlock.

"Oh, no you don't!" he said as he threw the kid off and looked around to see a circle of them around him and ready to shock him…

AELITA

CODE:

L-Y-O-K-O

Aelita watched as the screens fell around her, and said, "Tower deactivated."

Odd watched as the specters began to wisp out of all of the students, and Sam ran over and hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried! And…you saved me," she whispered as he smiled.

"I guess I did, huh?" he said cheesily. "Hold on a sec," he said as he sent a text message to Jeremy.

Jeremy's phone beeped and he read, "_Stopped attack here. Sam is safe. Bunch of students possessed and passed out in park. Return Trip, please?_"

"Coming right up, Odd. Return to the Past, now!"

"Odd, you're my hero," Sam smiled as she leaned in and kissed him before a white bubble enveloped them and the Time Reversion undid all the damage…

"So, I saw Sam yesterday," Odd said to Ulrich as they crept out of their room.

"Oh, what'd she say?" Ulrich asked as they stopped outside of Jacob's dorm.

"She asked if I wanted to go out with her, but I told her unless she wanted to move here, I didn't want to be attached to someone who was going to be in and out of my life. She said she understood, and that if she came back, she'd come and find me."

"Wow, Odd, give up the girl? I don't think that's ever happened before!" Ulrich smirked.

"Yeah, well, there's plenty of prospects left here," he grinned as he picked the lock on Jacob's door.

"That's our Odd," Ulrich laughed as they crept into Jacob's room.

"Shh!" Odd said as Ulrich realized, again, what was about to happen.

"Odd, he'll kill you if you do something stupid!" Ulrich hissed.

"But he's the newbie!" Odd whined. "I always prank the newbies! I did with William!"

"Not the same. You might…" Ulrich trailed off.

"I won't hurt him! Not on purpose," Odd added.

"Yeah, it's the accident part that I'm worried about," Ulrich growled as Odd crept over to the side of Jacob's bed, but just as he placed his foot so he could bend down next to Jacob's ear, Ulrich heard a loud "SNAP!", and Odd yelped in pain as Jacob rolled over and laughed.

"Hey!" he yelped as Jeremy, William, and Aelita came to see what the commotion was. "These things are supposed to catch mice, not cats!" he complained as he tried to get the mousetrap off of his toes! When the rest of the gang saw this, they burst out laughing, and Ulrich patted Odd on the back as he fumbled with the trap.

"That's what you get for messing with me, Odd," Jacob grinned as everyone started laughing again.

"Urgh!" Odd yelled. "You just wait, Jake! You just wait!"

94X: Aww...poor Odd...  
Odd: Yeah, woe is me!  
Ulrich: Don't worry, buddy, you'll get the girl someday.  
Odd: Yeah, but why can't it be now?  
Ulrich: I don't know, ask the evil mastermind over there. (points to LyokoWarrior94)  
94X: Because I said so! (laughs) Sorry, Odd. You'll get yours some day. I just don't know when yet. Haha, read & review!


	5. Episode 100: Frozen Dreams

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko! Moonscoop does!**

**Episode 100: Frozen Dreams**

In the Celestial Dome, Aelita was working with the Data Interface and sifting through the data in Sector Five trying to find something useful in the hopes that Jeremy could begin work on repairing the Skid.

"Hey, Aelita, can I have a look?" Jacob asked a she tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Oh, sure, Jake," she smiled as she stepped to the side. "Here, just do this to work the controls…" she muttered as she quickly showed him how to work the screens. "And, you're in!"

"Cool," Jacob said as he backtracked to a section of the computer that Aelita had already searched.

"What? I already searched there, I thought," she said in slight confusion.

"I know you did, but you were in such deep thought, I didn't want to interrupt you," he said as he searched through the files and folders. "I saw something that I thought might help; I just have to find where…aha! There's the little thing!" he said as he downloaded a file with the heading "Stabilization Recombinant". "Jer, can you check and see if this program will do you any good in stabilizing the core of the Skid so we can start rebuilding it?" Jeremy pulled up the program as soon as it came through the connection and began running it through what he had rebuilt of the Skid's framework.

"Hm…" he muttered as he began fiddling with piecing together the fuel tanks and inner engines. Once he had pieced the power chamber back together, he launched the new program as he slowly materialized the power core into the center of the Skid. "Yes…yes…YES!" he cheered as Jacob breathed a sigh of relief. "That program you dug up is exactly the piece I was missing to stabilize the core of the Skid! We can start _really_ rebuilding it now! It will take some time to completely become stable, but once it is, Aelita and I can go to work redesigning the outer framework, the NavSkids, stuff like that! We're going to have a ship again!"

"Yahoo!" Odd cheered as Jacob turned back to the Interface.

"Jeremy, I'm going to take the controls again for a minute and see if I can dig up anything else useful," he said as he went to work again.

"Okay, but don't take too long. It's getting late here," he warned gently.

"Roger," Jacob replied as he resumed searching. "The rest of you can go back; I'll be done in a few minutes."

"I'll stay," Aelita said. "I want to see what else you find."

"Okay then, the rest of us are off!" Odd said. "See you two later!" he added as Jeremy brought Odd, Ulrich, and William back into the real world. Once the other three had gone, Jacob resumed his work at the Interface. He was silent for a few minutes before a Restricted Access file flew across the screen and Aelita said, "Stop!"

"What, Aelita?"

"It's my turn to interrupt. Go back a second; something looked strange about that last file." Jacob obliged and scrolled back until he reached the restricted file again. He tried to open it, but had no luck at cracking the seal. "Jeremy, Aelita and I came across a Restricted Access file deep in the Interface Memory. I'm going to send it to you. It's got a symbol on it that I've never seen before…" he said as he transmitted the file. Once Jeremy received it, he fought with the lock for a few seconds before replying to them.

"It's going to take me a while to crack the lock on this file. But it does intrigue me. The subscript says "_Property of the KGB_" at the bottom of the cover sheet. And besides, it's getting late. I say we call it a night. Good work, you two!" Jeremy said as he pressed a few keys and brought them both in.

Jacob and Aelita walked slowly back to the school, while Jeremy had stayed for a few minutes more to make absolutely sure the stabilization programs were functioning properly on the Skid.

"Aelita, what do you think was in that file?" Jacob asked her curiously.

"I'm not entirely sure…" she said as she walked, looking up at the stars. "I just had this feeling…that it was something we were meant to find…" she trailed off.

"It said '_Property of the KGB_'," Jacob went on. "Who exactly are they?"

"Well, I didn't know what that meant until a few weeks ago. I always knew them as the 'Men in Black'. That's what Daddy called them. They were the government soldiers who turned against my father and tried to steal his work."

"Oh, ok…" Jacob muttered. Jeremy had briefly explained to him a little bit about Aelita's past, but he hadn't gone into great detail. He had mentioned the Men in Black though. "I wonder what they could possibly have wanted to keep so secret… Whatever it was, obviously XANA or someone found it and hid it again. It must be something that we need to know!" Jacob concluded.

"Yes, I hope so…" Aelita muttered, thinking about the emblem that was in the corner of the file. She felt like she had seen it somewhere before…

-_Flashback_—

_Soft piano-playing could be heard in the background as a young Aelita played on the floor of a cabin in the mountains… It was snowing outside, and she giggled as she tossed Mr. Puck the Elf into the air and caught him. "I love him, Mommy; he's so cute!" Antea smiled, and bent down to hug her daughter. "I'm glad you like him, my dear. Whenever you hold him, I want you to think of me…"_

_-End Flashback-_

"Hm…" Aelita murmured as she stopped in her path. Jacob noticed this after a moment, and stopped to turn around, realizing they had reached the gates of the school.

"Aelita, what's wrong?" he asked as he walked back to where she was. "Aelita?" he asked, noticing her eyes were slightly glazed over. "Are you okay, Princess?" After a moment, she snapped out of her stupor and looked blankly at him.

"What? Oh, Jacob…" she said when she refocused and realized it was him standing in front of her. "I guess I spaced out for a minute…"

"Something wrong?"

"I…I'm not sure…hey, after classes tomorrow, will you come with me to the Hermitage? There's something I want to check…" she trailed off.

"Does it have anything to do with the mysterious symbol on that file?" he asked curiously.

"Maybe…we'll see," she replied as the pair walked through the gates and towards the dorm building…

The next morning, the rest of the gang was at breakfast, but Aelita was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, have you seen Aelita this morning, Yumi?" Ulrich asked when she sat down. "She hasn't been in here yet and none of us have seen her."

"No, Ulrich, I haven't," Yumi replied. "Do you think something's wrong?"

"Well, when we were walking back from the Factory last night, she was really lost in her head…" Jacob said. "I'm not sure what's wrong…"

"Oh, hey, everyone," Aelita said cheerfully as she finally came up to join her friends. "Sorry I'm late; I overslept this morning."

"Hey, Aelita," Jeremy said as she sat down next to him. "Glad you decided to wake up!" he jested cheerfully as she gave him a playful shove. "So, I was thinking, after class today, that Jacob and I would go to the Factory and work on the Skid a little more." Jacob and Aelita shared a quick glance, and he replied, "Uh, sorry Jeremy, but I've already got plans this afternoon."

"Oh, that's okay then. I can manage," he replied as the bell rang.

"We'd better go," Yumi said as they all got up. "Don't want to be late. See you all later!" she called back as she and William headed for their first class while the others headed for another droning lecture in Mrs. Hertz's class…

During Mrs. Hertz's lecture, Aelita slipped a note to Jacob, who quietly opened it and read, "_Still okay with checking out the Hermitage with me?_" He scribbled something on it and sent it back to her. "_Yes. What is it you think we'll find?_" She scribbled one more note at the bottom and passed the slip back to him. "_I'll explain when we find it; hopefully._"

As soon as classes were done, Jacob, Jeremy, and Aelita walked out of Math class, and Jacob glanced quickly at Aelita, who caught his glance and looked at Jeremy. "I've got some things I need to take care of. Let me know how the Skid comes along. I'll be by later" she said quickly as she kissed him on the cheek and ran off.

"I—wait, Aelita…" Jeremy said, but she was already out of earshot. "Jacob…" he said as he looked up again, but he was already gone as well. "Something's weird around here…" he said, but made nothing of it, and went to grab his laptop so he could go to the Factory…

Outside the gates of the Hermitage…

"Aelita, are you sure about this?" Jacob asked her as she pushed open the gates to the abandoned building that had once been her home.

"Yes. If I'm right, then we'll find the key to decoding that file here," she said as she walked purposefully towards the door, leaving Jacob to chase after her.

"Aelita, what is it exactly that you expect to find?" he asked as he pushed open the door and followed her inside and up a flight of rickety stairs to a faded pink room that appeared to have been Aelita's bedroom, although it was so old Jacob didn't know how that was possible. "Aelita, is this…?"

"Yes," she replied as she searched each brick, looking for a specific one. "Being virtualized on Lyoko stops the aging process. I was there for a decade before Jeremy found me. That's why the house is so old."

"Oh," he replied quietly as Aelita finally found the brick she was looking for.

"Found it," she muttered as she wiggled the brick out of the wall to reveal a hole with a little, worn-out doll that looked like an elf inside it. She took it out and held it close to her for a brief second before finding a small zipper in the back and opening the doll to reveal a tiny compartment, from which she took out a key. On one side, it was dull silver and had a white Eye of XANA on it, which caused Jacob's heart to skip a beat, but this did not faze Aelita as she turned the key over. The other side was a rose-colored metal that had faded and corroded over the years, but the color was still visible as Aelita fingered the symbol at the top… Jacob took a look at it and saw a line of code engraved along the key itself, and the double-intertwined roses at the top…the same symbol as had been at the corner of the file they had found in Sector Five! "I had a feeling…" she muttered as Jacob looked at her first in puzzlement, and then in understanding as he finally put two and two together…

Meanwhile, on Lyoko, a Tower began to glow red in the Ice Sector…

Meanwhile, the boys were eating lunch in the strangely-deserted cafeteria when William saw a spectre rise from the electric socket nearest to them.

"XANA! Run!" he said as Ulrich and Odd quickly got up. The spectre began to chase them, and Odd suddenly saw a narrow corridor they could use as an escape route.

"There!" he yelled. "On your right!" The three of them quickly turned into it and ran for the door, opening and closing it no more William had slid in. It was only once they were inside that Odd realized where they were… "Oh, no, it's the freezers!"

"Odd, you can't be serious," Ulrich said as he tried the door. "Oh, no, it's locked!" he exclaimed as William looked around in horror…

Jeremy was working on the Skid's programming in his room when the SuperScan went off. He quickly opened it to see the coordinates of the Tower.

"Oh, no, not again…"

Aelita's phone rang, breaking the eerie silence at the Hermitage. She answered it in one fluid motion, getting up from the floor as she did. "Hello? Oh, hi Jeremy. What? We'll be right there. Me and Jacob. Yes, we…no, Jeremy, you don't understand, I asked him to…Jeremy, stop! I'll explain it when we get to the Factory!" she said loudly as she hung up. "XANA's launched an attack, Jacob. We have to get to the Factory. We can take the tunnel in the back garden. It leads to the sewers," she finished as she headed for the stairs and followed them all the way to the basement, going outside and opening a doorway in the garden that was well-concealed. "Here," she said as they climbed down the stairs…

Once they arrived at the Factory, Jeremy was already talking quickly into the headset, but stopped briefly when he saw the two of them. "Oh, good, you two are here," he scowled as Aelita walked over to him. "We'll talk about this later, Aelita. Right now we have a Tower to deactivate. Yumi is already in Lyoko. Odd called me and said that he, Ulrich, and William are trapped in the freezers. We have to hurry!"

"Say no more, Einstein," Jacob said as the two of them raced for the Scanners.

Transfer Jacob, Transfer Aelita.

Scanner Jacob, Scanner Aelita.

Virtualization!

A few moments later, the two of them virtualized onto Lyoko in the Ice Sector.

"Hi, Yumi," Aelita said upon landing.

"Nice to see you two again," Yumi said as Jacob looked around.

"I see the Tower!" he said quickly as he pointed east. "There, on that ridge!"

"Let's go," Aelita said as the three of them began running towards the Tower.

Meanwhile, the spectre that had been chasing the three boys drifted to the thermostat next to the freezer door and entered it…programming the temperature setting to drop to 30 below…

"Unh…" Odd groaned, his teeth chattering… "Does anyone think its c-c-cold in here?"

"It's a freezer, dimwit. It's supposed to be cold!" William shot back.

"No, Odd's right," Ulrich replied through shivers. "I can tell. This isn't just normal cold. If we stay in here much longer…we c-c-c-could f-f-freeze t-to death…" he stuttered as his teeth chattered too…

As the three Warriors approached the Tower, Jacob said, "I'll clear the way!" and ran ahead slightly. A bend in the road caused him to vanish from sight for an instant, no more. But that instant was still enough as something sinister crept out from behind the Tower, and the next thing Aelita knew, she heard a blood-curdling scream…

"AELITA!" Her eyes widened as she heard Jacob's voice, and she rounded the corner to what she already knew she would find…

"The Scyphozoa's got Jacob!" Jeremy gasped in shock. "Girls, do something! Anything!" he said as his voice cracked. "_This cannot happen againl; this cannot happen AGAIN!_" he kept thinking over and over in his mind.

"Hi-yahh!" Yumi cried as she threw her fans at the Scyphozoa. They managed to clip the tentacles, but by then it was already releasing Jacob, and a beeping on Jeremy's screens confirmed the worst.

"He's been taken over! You have to devirtualize him, fast!" Jeremy hissed.

"Roger!" Yumi said as she flipped open her fans and prepared to do battle with her new friend. He just looked at her; the Eye of XANA flickering in his pupils as he conjured a black Energy Field and morphed it into a boomerang of sorts. Yumi laughed and said, "Fine. You want to fight my way? Let's do this! Hi-yahh!" she yelled as she threw her fans at him. He countered with his boomerang, and the two met in mid-air and deflected off of each other, returning to their owners. Jacob just growled as he conjured an Energy Field and fired it at Yumi. She managed to dodge it, but in doing so accidentally backed herself in to an alcove with no escape as Jacob blocked the exit. "Urgh…" she growled as she realized it was over. But before she could react for her final strike, she saw a flash from behind her, and she saw a field of pink light encase Jacob. While it wasn't enough to devirtualize him, it did distract him enough to allow Yumi to get out of the alcove and join Aelita.

Meanwhile…

The three boys were huddled together on the floor, trying to conserve any warmth left at all as they all shivered.

"They n-n-need to h-hur-hurry up," Ulrich stuttered as he continued to shake.

Back on Lyoko, the two girls continued to fight Jacob, looking for anything they could exploit to win the fight…

"Any ideas, Princess?" Yumi asked as she blocked an energy pulse from Jacob.

"Maybe," Aelita replied. "But you'll need to have perfect aim. I'll distract him!" she said as she waved her hand over her bracelet to conjure her wings and then took off. "Hey, dimwit! Try and catch me!" she taunted as she flew towards the Tower. Jacob just growled and took off after her, summoning an Energy Field and firing it. She managed to avoid it, and circled back, looking at Yumi quickly as she did. Yumi caught her glance and nodded, and when Jacob came back and was ready to fire at Aelita again, Yumi yelled, "Hi-yahh!" and threw her fans. The noise startled Jacob, and in the instant he turned around, Yumi's fans sliced into him on both sides, and a moment later he was devirtualized.

"Yes!" Yumi grinned as she ran over and high-fived Aelita. "Girlpower!"

"Ungh…" Jacob groaned as he sat on the floor of the Scanner. "I _will_ kill XANA…"

"Good job, girls. Aelita, it's your turn!" Jeremy said as she ran into the Tower…

The three boys had stopped shaking now. Ulrich suddenly felt warmer as he stopped struggling. Maybe fighting wasn't the answer…

AELITA

CODE:

L-Y-O-K-O.

"Tower deactivated," Aelita said as the screens fell around her. Jeremy hit a few keys after that, and then cried, "Return to the Past, now!" as the familiar white bubble enveloped the Factory, and the three boys…

Back in the Computer Lab…

"I'm so glad you three are okay!" Yumi said in relief as she hugged all three of them in turn, taking a moment longer with Ulrich, which got a slight scowl out of William.  
"So are we!" Odd sighed. "That is the coldest I've ever been in my life! I think I hate winter now!" he quipped as the girls laughed.

"So, Aelita…" Jeremy started, but stopped when Aelita came over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "I—"

"See, Einstein?" Jacob said. "You have nothing to worry about! She loves you, so stop overreacting!"

"I—okay…" he sighed as he put a small grin on his face. "But why were you two at the Hermitage then?"

"You two were at the Hermitage?" Ulrich asked.

"Yes," Jacob replied as Aelita pulled the small key out of her pocket and showed it to Jeremy. He looked at it for a moment, and then gave it back to her.

"Okay, so this does…what, exactly?" he asked as Aelita smacked her head and pushed him out of the Supercomputer chair. She fiddled with the controls for a moment before going into the Supercomputer memory and retrieving the Restricted Access file that they had found earlier… Jeremy looked at the file first, and then looked down at the key in Aelita's hand and saw that the symbols were an exact match!

"This," she said, like a parent explaining something to a young child, as she tried to open the file and it prompted her for a password. She looked down at the rose-colored side of the key and slowly punched in each character of the line of code, making sure to get it exactly right before she pressed "Enter". Immediately, a green exclamation point flashed up on the screen and the file opened!

"Aelita, that's incredible! How did you…?"

"My head…" she replied simply as she began scanning through the first pages of the file. "Wow, a lot of it is encrypted…" she muttered as she rifled through some more pages before stopping at a certain page. She froze, and her eyes went totally blank as she couldn't believe what she read. Jeremy scanned the text, and his jaw dropped in shock.

"What is it, Jeremy?" Yumi asked.

"I—I can't believe it…" Aelita whispered as Jeremy turned around to look at the rest of the group.

"I—this file—I mean—what we found is…"

"Spit it out, Einstein!" Jacob finally said as Jeremy just shook his head before speaking again.

"This file…which was compiled and saved by the Men in Black…is regarding and detailing information on one…Antea Hopper…" he finally said, and the pin dropped as everyone in the room looked at him in disbelief.

"You mean…"

"My mother…" Aelita whispered. "She could still be out there…" she whispered as a tear dripped down her face and she threw her head back towards the sky. "Mommy!" she yelled, her voice breaking as she broke down and sobbed uncontrollably…

94X: Ooh, the plot thickens…

Aelita: (crying) I just get some wonderful and at the same time terrible news and that's all you can say?

94X: You're right…I'm sorry, Princess. (hugs)

Aelita: (smiles) Read and review, everyone!


	6. Episode 101:  Breakdown

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**Episode 101: Breakdown**

"Hurry now, children, there's not a lot of time," Jeremy said in a sing-songy voice as they raced towards the activated Tower in the Mountain Sector. XANA had been causing earthquakes around Kadic City and Odd, Yumi, Jacob, and Aelita were on Lyoko trying to get to the Tower.

"Ow," Ulrich said as one of the tremors knocked him to the floor of the Lab. "Hey, Jeremy, can you make them go any faster? The tremors are getting closer."

"Well, I can try to put the whip to them," he laughed as he said, "Move it!" into the microphone.

"We're going, Jeremy," Aelita laughed as she jumped off of the Overboard and landed neatly on the path leading to the Tower.

"This seems too easy," Odd observed as he flew down to join Aelita, with Yumi and Jacob behind him. "Not that I'm complaining, or anything…" he smiled as suddenly, a trio of Megatanks appeared in front of the Tower.

"I guess XANA thought you were," Yumi laughed.

"Ready for a little warm-up? Bonzai!" Odd cried as he charged the first Megatank. It opened, and began to charge its laser, but Odd jumped nimbly out of the way as it fired the elliptical laser. "Laser Arrow!" he yelled as he fired back, but it closed in time to deflect the shot, so Odd leaped on his Overboard and took off, circling it as he said, "Come on, little bugger! Lemme have it!" When it opened to charge power again, Odd was ready for it, and fired a second Laser Arrow; this one hitting its mark, and the Megatank exploded with a loud bang. "Yahoo!" he said as he looped back around. "The second one's all yours, Jake!" he said as it backed Jacob onto a thin path, which was exactly what he wanted it to do. He charged up two Energy Fields, and when it fired, he melded them into an energy shield and began forcing the laser back towards the Megatank until he got off of the narrow portion of path and close enough to jump sideways out of the way and force an Energy Field into its Eye before it could even react.

"Now _that_ was fun," he laughed as he blew a spark from the tip of his finger. "Yumi?" he asked nonchalantly as the third Megatank rolled towards her. It opened and fired, but she nimbly flipped out of the way before throwing her fans at it and watching in satisfaction as it exploded a moment later.

"If you ask me, this all seems too easy," she commented.

"Well, either that or XANA's running out of tricks," Jeremy laughed. "Aelita, it's your turn!" he added as she ran for the Tower. She reached the second platform quickly and walked up to the Interface.

AELITA

CODE:

L-Y-O-K-O

"Tower deactivated," she said as the screens fell around her.

"How bad is the damage, Jeremy?" Ulrich asked as the gang gathered in the Computer Lab.

"Bad enough that we can't fix it on our own," he answered with a shake of his head. "And the rest of the town is pretty messed up too. I don't feel great about all of these Returns, though…" he trailed off. "We're only making XANA stronger…"

"Not true," Jacob said. "When XANA escaped the Supercomputer, he severed the connection he had with Lyoko and the Supercomputer programming. Meaning, he is no longer linked to the Returns to the Past. We can use it if we need to and there will be no ill effects."

"Wow; that's great!" Jeremy exclaimed. "And all this time we thought we would be making XANA more powerful," he said matter-of-factly. "Hmm…" he trailed off again.

"Uh, Jeremy," William said suddenly. "The Return?"

"Oh, yeah, right. Return to the Past, now!"

As all of this was going on, Jeremy never noticed an Alert message appear and then quickly disappear as it was whisked away by XANA…

"_Hmm…a glitch…this could be useful…_" the program thought as he infiltrated the Supercomputer memory and began to go to work…

The next afternoon, at lunch, Jacob and Aelita were discussing the file on Antea when William and Ulrich walked up and sat down to join them.

"Oh, hi guys," Aelita smiled. "Where's Yumi, William?"

"Uh, she had to run home to get her books for this afternoon," he replied. "She walked out without them this morning."

"Well, then…" Jacob laughed. "Anyways, Aelita, I've been working nonstop on trying to crack the codes in your mom's file."

"Any luck?" Ulrich asked.

"Not really," he replied glumly. "But, I did manage to find a page that I think I can decode fully by tonight. We'll see what it says."

"That's great, Jacob," Aelita smiled. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," he replied, blushing. After a moment, he looked around the cafeteria and turned back to the gang with a bit of a puzzled look on his face. "Where _are_ Odd and Jeremy?" he asked.

"Uh, I think in the library," Ulrich replied. "Jeremy's tutoring him in math," he added as Aelita's jaw dropped.

"Odd, ask for help? Since when?" she laughed.

"Not his choice," Ulrich replied with a grin. "Teacher's orders for failing the last test."

"Ha!" Jacob smirked. "Bet he's giving Jeremy the time of his life."

In the library…

"So now, if you multiply here, and then do this, you get…?"

"Uh…two?" Odd asked in despair.

"No, no, no!" Jeremy scowled. "Odd, were you listening to any of the explanation I just gave you?"

"I'm trying, Einstein, but math really isn't my thing!" he replied.

"I know; I'm sorry," Jeremy sighed after a moment. "Here, let's go back to the beginning of the problem and you work through it with me…" As Jeremy and Odd continued to work, a faint beeping went unnoticed in Jeremy's bag…as in the Forest Sector, a Tower began to glow red…

"Ok, well we're off to study before this afternoon," Aelita smiled as she and Jacob walked towards the dorm stairs. "See you guys later!"

"Bye, Aelita," William and Yumi said as they went towards their history classroom. Once Aelita and Jacob had climbed the stairs, she made the turn to keep going up, and Jacob looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Oh, I just need to get my book," she explained as Jacob's face turned to understanding and he laughed. "I'll be down in a minute," she said as he walked to his room and opened the door. As soon as he did, he was met with a chorus of electronic beeps, and he raced to his computer, scanning the screen as he punched a few keys.

"Oh no, not again," he groaned.

Meanwhile, on Lyoko, XANA's monsters were beginning to mobilize at the Tower when suddenly, a chunk of the Sector underneath them flickered and then fragmented, vanishing and dropping most of them into the Digital Sea. Those that were left shrieked when the beam of light shot up from below, and ran off, avoiding the holes in the landscape that were opening and closing all around them…

"Jacob, I said I'd be right back," Aelita laughed as she answered her phone in her room.

"No time," he replied quickly. "XANA's activated a Tower! We need to get to Lyoko, on the double!"

"Okay, I'll call Jeremy and the others and meet you at the Factory," she finished as she hung up.

In the cafeteria, Jeremy and Odd had finally finished their tutoring session and were getting some lunch. Ulrich had come down to join them, and the three were chowing down when Odd noticed a movement outside of the window.

"Hey, what's that?" he asked as he noticed a pack of wolves outside the cafeteria doors. He made nothing of it for a moment until he realized what they were, and he said, "Uh, Jeremy…" nervously. "You might want to check your computer."

"What, Odd?" he asked crossly as he looked up and saw the problem. "Oh, no!" he gasped as he quickly pulled his beeping computer out of his bag and scanned the screen quickly. "I can't believe I missed it! XANA's on the attack!" he exclaimed as his phone rang.

"_Jeremy, its Jacob! XANA's activated a Tower! We need you at the Factory!_"

"I wish I could," he replied. "But XANA's got us trapped!" he said in shock as the wolves began to fire electric beams from their mouths, electrifying the cafeteria doors. "You'll have to do this on your own!"

"What? But…"

"Jacob, I trust you," he said reassuringly. "Now go, so we can get out of here," he finished as he hung up. Jacob did as well, and then turned to Aelita with worry in his eyes.

"Yumi and William are on their way," she said as she noticed his panic. "What's wrong?" she asked as they reached the sewer entrance in the park.

"The others are trapped in the cafeteria," he replied quickly. "It's up to me," he added nervously.

"Don't worry," she replied as she put a hand on his shoulder. "You'll do fine," she smiled.

Once the four friends were safely at the Factory, they got into the lift and Jacob pressed the button to start the elevator. "Head for the Scanners," he said when he got off at the Lab entrance. He ran over and grabbed Jeremy's headset, putting it on as he swiveled around to the screens. He started them up quickly as he ran his fingers over the keys, and said to himself, "Here goes nothing," as he pressed a key and the transfer programs popped up. "Wow, maybe I did get it when Jeremy explained all this to me," he smiled as he heard Aelita over the headset say, "_We're ready to go._"

"Roger," Jacob replied as he started the sequence. "Transfer Yumi, Transfer William, Transfer Aelita," he said nervously as their profiles came online. "Scanner Yumi, Scanner William, Scanner Aelita." He crossed his fingers as he hovered over one more key, and then said, "Virtualization!" as he pressed it.

The zipping noise could be heard as the trio virtualized and when they hit the ground, Yumi said, "You can stop holding your breath now, Jacob; we made it." A sigh of relief could be heard over the microphone before William added, "Have some faith in yourself, Jake."

"That's what I told hi—ahh!" Aelita cried as a hole opened up underneath her foot and she began to fall. William dashed over and grabbed her arm, pulling her back to safety before looking around and seeing the same phenomenon occurring all over the Sector, that he could see anyways. Aelita observed this too, and then said, "Jacob, something's not right here. The Sector is appearing and disappearing in different spots," she added quickly as she jumped out of the way before another hole opened up beneath her.

"Huh? I don't see anything different on the Holomap…" he said in confusion. "Hold on a sec," he said as he quickly began checking the programs.

"That's about all we can hold on for," Yumi shot back as she evaded a hole.

"Oh no, that's not good," Jacob muttered.

"What is it?" Aelita asked.

"There's a bug in the rendering software that actually creates Lyoko," he explained. "It won't show up on the Holomap because the Supercomputer thinks everything is being created when it's not. I can guide you to the Tower, but the holes are your job," he finished. "I'll work on trying to fix it from this end. The Tower that you need to get to is west of your current position."

"Why not virtualize our vehicles?" William asked as they began to sprint on foot in the direction of the Tower.

"Jeremy didn't teach me how to do that yet," he replied. "I can work on trying to find the program though. Head for the Tower; I'll see what I can do."

The three Warriors then ran down the path until they could just see the halo of the Tower in the distance. All of a sudden Yumi let out a cry as they ground beneath her devirtualized, and as William dashed to try and make it to her, he could not in time before she was out of his grasp.

"Jacob, bring her in!" William screamed.

"On it!" he replied as he hit a couple of keys at rapid-fire pace, "Materialization Yumi!" he cried as he launched the program, holding his breath as he waited. A few moments later, William said, "It worked," and in the Scanner Room, Yumi appeared in one of the Scanners, panting to try and recover as she sat on the floor.

"Why am I always the one falling?" she groaned.

Back at Kadic, Odd and Ulrich were trying to work out a way to get through the wolves, who were still shooting lightning to keep the door electrified.

"Urgh!" Ulrich groaned in frustration. "There's no way to distract them!"

"I know! We've tried everything!" Odd complained as Jeremy's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Jeremy, it's Yumi," she said as she watched Jacob try and mess with the programming of the Supercomputer. "We've got a problem here. There's a bug in the Supercomputer and the ground on Lyoko is going in and out. I almost didn't make it out. But Aelita and William can't get to the Tower if they're going to have to keep dodging holes all day!"

"Okay, put me on speaker," he instructed. "I'll try and talk Jacob through the antivirus software. Ok, Jacob? Listen closely…"

Back on Lyoko, Aelita and William were finally getting close to the Tower, jumping and dodging the holes in the path that kept plaguing them and threatening to throw them into the Digital Void.

"We can see the Tower, Jake!" William grunted as he jumped another hole in the path. "And it doesn't look as if it's being guarded at all!"

"Maybe XANA thought that the holes would be enough to distract us," Aelita mused as she dodged a hole that had opened up right in front of her. "They are putting up a pretty good fight, at least," she laughed.

"Okay, now run that program," Jeremy instructed over the phone as Jacob punched a few keys and watched as the red exclamation point on his screen changed to green, and he punched his fist in the air in triumph.

"Yes, yes, YES!" he crowed in delight. "It's fixed!"

On Lyoko, Aelita and William stopped as a glowing sphere blasted out of Sector Five and expanded until a bright white light enveloped the entire area. When it subsided, Aelita watched as the holes that were left in the ground began to web together and reappear, until every hole was filled and the Sector was restored to normal.

"Jacob, you did it!" she exclaimed.

"I had a lot of help," he smiled as Jeremy laughed over the phone. "Now, you two have a Tower to get to, don't you?"

"Roger, Houston," Aelita laughed as she and William rounded the corner and came into full view of the Tower. What they also saw was a pair of Tarantulas, and a Megatank, virtualize to defend it. "Looks like XANA's just scared of a few holes," she chuckled as she summoned her wings and took off.

"Hunh!" William groaned as he took off for the Tarantulas. "Super Smoke!" he cried as he whisked around behind them and reformed. But they were ready for him as they quickly turned around and launched a barrage of lasers, hitting him in the chest twice and knocking him to the ground.

"William, you just lost forty life points!" Jacob warned.

"I know!" he growled as he activated his Super Smoke again and circled the Tarantulas, trying to confuse them.

Meanwhile, the Megatank was having quite a time with Aelita, as she deftly maneuvered around all of the elliptical lasers it fired at her. It whirred to a stop and opened, charging power before letting off a perfectly tied blast that clipped Aelita's wing and sent her crashing to the ground. She quickly jumped up, and ran around to try and get a good look at its Eye, but just when she did, it fired another laser pulse at her, and she was forced to summon two Energy Fields and meld them almost instantly to block the blow. It forced her back, and she struggled against the force of the laser.

"I'm not going out that easily!" she grunted as she began to step forward, forcing the laser back as she leaned to her right, and rolled out of the way as the Megatank fired while at the same time firing her Energy Field, hitting the Eye and destroying the Megatank. She looked over at William, who was still struggling with the Tarantulas, and conjured another Energy Field, which she fired at the two beasts, managing to clip one of them in the arm. It had the desired result, however; as the Tarantula screeched and burst into bits after a moment. William then reformed behind the second Tarantula and dispatched it quickly with a slice of his Zweihander.

"Thanks, Aelita," he sighed.

"No problem," she smiled as suddenly, a Krabe materialized directly in front of the Tower and fired a laser from its stomach, hitting Aelita and knocking her to the ground.

"Aelita!" William exclaimed as he turned to the Krabe. "Super Smoke!" he yelled as he zoomed across the ground and underneath the Krabe, reforming under its stomach, but before he could deliver a fatal blow, it blasted him with its stomach laser and sent him flying back to where Aelita was.

"New plan," William grunted as he swung his Zweihander above his head. "Aelita, when I tell you to, fly for the Tower!"

"Okay," she replied as she resummoned her wings and took off.

"Go!" he yelled as he brought the blade down until it was plunged into the ground in front of him. It created a massive shock wave and rent the ground until the surface under the Krabe was totally cracked, and the Krabe squealed as the ground broke and it plunged into the Digital Sea. Aelita, meanwhile, gracefully landed on a small strip just in front of the Tower that had not fallen through, and entered it. She floated up to the second platform, and reached out to touch the Interface.

AELITA

CODE:

L-Y-O-K-O

"Tower deactivated," she said as she watched the screens fall around her.

"Jeremy, do we need a Return Trip?" Yumi asked over the phone.

"Nope," he smiled as the three boys watched the wolves evaporate, revealing them to have been polymorphs. "I think everyone here was too frightened to have really paid any attention to what was going on. And there's no lasting damage done here, so we're good!"

"Whew," Jacob sighed.

Back at the Factory that night, Jeremy had called the gang to come and see something he had uncovered.

"Okay, so I've completely fixed the digital rendering program. No more holes!" he said cheerfully as Yumi sighed.

"That's a relief," she smiled. "I'm getting tired of almost falling into the Digital Sea." Everyone laughed at that sentiment as suddenly, the Supercomputer beeped rapidly, and Jeremy checked something on his screens.

"Hey, the Supercomputer just finished decoding a segment of Antea's file!" he exclaimed as Aelita rushed over and hugged him before looking intently at the screen. He opened the page that had been decrypted, and looked it over.

"It's a letter," Aelita murmured. "From my mother to Daddy and me," she said as she began to read it aloud…

_To Waldo and Aelita,_

_I do not know if this letter will ever reach you, but if it does, take heed. I have had to tell the KGB everything I knew. I could not bear the torture any longer. I believe their intent is to come after you two and the Supercomputer. I do not know why they want that information, but I know you need to be warned. They will try and destroy you once they have it in their possession. Please, my beloveds, be safe. Find a way to protect yourselves at any cost. One day, I will break free of this cursed place and return to you. I promise you that. For now…please, please protect yourselves. That is my wish and command! I will keep the secret to XANA's destruction hidden if I have to take it to my grave. They cannot destroy him; he is your last weapon. I love you; both of you._

_P.S.: Aelita, until I am back with you, remember me by Mister Puck. He will keep you safe. I love you, my sweet._

"The secret to XANA's destruction…?" Jacob murmured as Aelita finished.

"There's still a lot of the letter that is in code, but this is a start," she said as she turned back to them. "If we can start finding clues in this file, there's a good chance that we will find something worthwhile," she added as she sighed deeply. Jeremy, meanwhile, was still looking at the screen, and he scrolled around the page for a few moments before he let out an "Aha!" under his breath.

"What is it, Einstein?" Odd said as Aelita looked over Jeremy's shoulder and then let out a faint gasp.

"Jeremy, is this right?" she asked him in disbelief.

"I see nothing that indicates it's been altered in any way," he replied.

"You're sure?" she asked again.

"If there were any alterations, I would have found them," Jeremy reassured her as the rest of the gang looked on in confusion.

"What is it, you two?" Yumi asked out of curiosity.

"The postmark," Jeremy replied matter-of-factly. Ulrich came over and read it aloud.

"August 13th…" he muttered as Aelita nodded.

"Exactly," she agreed. "That gives us a clue."

"To?" Jacob asked.

"I'm not sure to what…" Jeremy replied. "But, we do know this," he continued as Aelita finished his sentence.

"This letter was sent after Daddy finished the Scanners and the programming for Lyoko. This means…that my mother was still alive after we arrived on Lyoko! There's still hope!" she cried in relief.

LW94: And so the plot continues to thicken…

Aelita: Yes…I hope my mom's okay…

LW94: We'll just have to see, won't we?

Jacob: Oh, Aelita, by the way, you stole my trick with the Megatank!

Aelita: Maybe, but I pulled off better than you did!

Jacob: Did not!

Aelita: Did too!

LW94: Okay, stop it you two!

Aelita: He's right; we might get forgotten about otherwise. And I want to know what's going to happen next! So, read and review, everybody!

LW94: That's right! Or else! (Evil chuckle)


	7. Episode 102:  Firestorm

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**Episode 102: Firestorm**

"So, any new news, Einstein?" Jacob asked as the gang sat in Jeremy's room.

"Nothing yet," he sighed. "I did manage to extract what I _think_ might be a last known location…" Aelita perked her ears in anticipation as Jeremy continued. "But…I haven't been able to crack the code yet…"

"It's okay, Jeremy," Aelita said. "Just knowing you're doing something gives me hope," she smiled.

"Well, I hope we'll have something soon," he grinned as the bell rang outside.

"We don't want to be late for class," Odd smiled as the gang split up and went their separate ways for classes…

In Mrs. Hertz's class, the class was taking a test on radioactivity and its effects on the environment, but Jacob sat at his desk and twitched his pencil as he tried to answer the questions. He couldn't focus at all; he was having flashbacks…

—_Flashback—_

"_Run, Jacob!" a voice screamed from behind him as a shadowy form with glowing red eyes enveloped two people behind him. They were on a Sector almost identical to Lyoko's Forest Sector, but it was dark and shadowed; there was hardly any light… All he could hear were their screams as they were taken, and the last thing he heard was his mother say, "We will always love you…" before they were swallowed up by the darkness…_

"_Mom! Dad! NO!" Jacob screamed as he wheeled around to face the shadowy form, which was solidifying into a young boy with pitch-black clothes and maniacal, glowing red eyes…_

"No…no…AHHH!" Jacob screamed as the class jumped up in shock. Ulrich and Jeremy ran quickly over to him.

"Jacob, Jacob, can you hear me?" Ulrich asked as he opened Jacob's eyes and forced him to look at him. Jake's eyes were bloodshot and unfocused, and they flickered for a long time before slowly refocusing, and it took a long time before he finally murmured, "No…" and burst into silent tears. Ulrich laid a hand on his head, and felt that Jake was burning up. He looked at Jeremy in fear, and turned to Mrs. Hertz.

"He needs to get to the infirmary, quick," Ulrich said nervously as Mrs. Hertz looked around at the rest of the class.

"Very well. Stern, Belpois, take him. The three of you can finish the test once your friend is feeling up to it," she said in concern as they slowly helped a vacant Jacob up out of the floor where he had fallen out of his chair, and took him out of the class, leaving Aelita and Odd to finish their tests while worrying about their friend…

In the infirmary, it was about four hours later that Jacob bolted straight up in his bed and looked around wildly in fear. All of a sudden, he felt two pairs of hands on his shoulders, and when his eyes finally focused, he saw that Aelita and Ulrich were restraining him, and after a long time, he relaxed and laid slowly back into the bed as he looked in confusion and fear at Aelita…

"Where am I…?" he croaked groggily.

"The infirmary," she replied soothingly. "You passed out in Science this afternoon."

"I what?" he asked as everything slowly trickled back to him. He remembered the nightmare…the pain…the loss…and he began to cry as Aelita said "Shh…" and brushed his hair out of his eyes, holding him close to her. He sobbed, but managed to mumble…

"My parents…"

The next morning, in the cafeteria, the rest of the gang was eating breakfast and discussing Jacob's current condition.

"I'm worried," Aelita said softly. "I think maybe he's having nightmares."

"About what?" Odd asked. "Dr. Shrank and the Hospital of Horrors?"

"No, Odd," Ulrich said with a scowl that shut him up on the spot. "Not your stupid cartoons. This was real. Aelita thinks he was remembering what happened to his parents…" Ulrich trailed off as Jeremy looked at the two in concern.

"He told us he didn't remember what had happened; just that he knew XANA killed them…"

"I think he's beginning to remember the specifics…" Aelita whispered. "I stayed with him for a long time after he fell asleep again, and he kept muttering, "_You can't take them…I'll fight you…_" over and over. "I don't think XANA destroyed them that easily. I think Jacob fought for them…" she muttered as William's eyes widened. Aelita caught this, and turned to see Jacob walking slowly over to their table. He finally made it to them and Ulrich quickly slid over, making room as Jacob sat and slumped down, putting his head on the table as he looked around.

"Hi, guys…" he breathed softly as Aelita looked at him in concern.

"Are you sure you're okay to be out of the infirmary?" she asked.

"I couldn't stay in there any longer…" he replied. "It was too quiet…" At this, Odd snickered before Ulrich elbowed him in the side, which shut him up.

"Well, you're not going to class today," Yumi said simply. "You need to rest. You had us all worried!"

"I know, guys…I'm sorry…" Just then, Jacob's phone rang, and he took it out and looked at the screen in surprise before excusing himself to answer it. Once he was outside the door, he picked it up.

"What do you want?" he asked hotly, all traces of his exhaustion and illness instantly gone.

"_I don't even get a hello?_" the staticky voice on the other end hissed sweetly. "_I thought you would want the information I had to give…_"

"Why should I believe anything you have to say, _XANA_?" he hissed. "You killed my parents!"

"_Ah, but that's the point… Come to Lyoko alone. Now. I can give them back to you…_" At this, Jacob stopped cold, and dropped his phone, letting it clatter to the floor. He picked it up and muttered a reply before hanging up and running off. By the time Ulrich opened the door to see what the matter was, Jacob was gone…

"Stupid idiot…they're gone!" Jacob hissed under his breath as he ran blindly through the woods. "They can't be brought back…" he began to cry as his foot ran into something and he realized he had reached the Hermitage. He didn't think he had run that far. He slowly pushed the gate, and it creaked open, allowing him to walk through. He walked inside and into the decrepit library, sitting down in an old armchair as he gazed at all of the books and information held in the shelves. Something in the top corner caught his eye, and he grabbed a stool, climbing up to reach a file folder wedged between two books. He pulled it out and blew the dust off of it before looking at the symbol on the front. It was an Eye of XANA, but it was warped slightly, and it was dark blue instead of red or black. Jacob's eyes widened at this, and he opened to the first page with trembling fingers, reading aloud, "Project Carthage and the Scipio Factor…" as he turned the page, and his eyes welled up when he saw an old photograph of him at a very young age and his parents with an older man with gray hair in a lab coat, and a woman with strikingly familiar pink hair…

"What? My parents knew Franz and…Antea?" he asked in wonder as the shock overwhelmed him and he dropped to a knee. Knowing now that he had to get some answers, he slowly got up and took staggering steps towards the sewer entrance in the Hermitage garden…

He raced through the tunnels and quickly arrived at the entrance to the Factory. He climbed up the ladder and swung down to the lift, his mind racing as he got off at the Lab entrance and walked to the Supercomputer. His fingers raced across the keys as he started up the automatic virtualization procedure, and he quickly went down to the Scanners, sliding through the doors just before they closed. He sighed and closed his eyes as the roaring wind swept under him and then the bright light enveloped his body…

As all of this was happening, a Tower in the Desert Sector began to glow red…

At the old train station, a brand-new electric train suddenly began to roll down the tracks by itself, and its screens lit up with the Eye of XANA as he began to plot its course…

As the rest of the gang was finishing their lunch, Jeremy was distracted by his laptop beeping in his bag. He leaned down to grab it and quickly scanned it before sighing.

"XANA's activated a Tower. Volunteers?" he asked as Odd and William nodded. "We'll go to the Factory. Ulrich, Yumi, stay on guard if anything fishy happens here. And make sure Jacob stays put. I don't want him getting hurt."

"Got it," the pair replied as the group split and Jeremy, Aelita, Odd and William headed for the school gates…

"I'm going to go check on Jacob," Ulrich said as he and Yumi reached the boys' floor.

"Okay," she replied. "I'll go on to my next class."

"Okay." Ulrich walked quickly down the hall and when he reached Jacob's room, he knocked on the door. "Jacob? It's Ulrich, can I come in?" Hearing no response, he checked the handle, and the door swung open smoothly to reveal an empty room…

"Oh, no…" he muttered as he picked up his phone.

Once the other four had arrived at the Factory, Jeremy said, "Head for the Scanners. I'll start the procedure." Once he had gotten to the computer, though, his phone rang, and he quickly answered it. "Ulrich, what's wrong?"

"Jacob's not here!" Ulrich replied worriedly. "Yumi and I have checked everywhere! I don't know where he could be…"

"I bet I do…" Jeremy sighed as he checked the logs on the Supercomputer, and saw exactly what he figured he might. He picked up his headset and said over the speakers to the other three in the Scanner Room, "Jacob's on Lyoko in Sector Five. Odd, I'm sending you after him. Aelita and William, head for the Tower."

"You got it, Einstein!" Odd grinned as the doors closed.

Transfer Odd, Transfer William, Transfer Aelita.

Scanner Odd, Scanner William, Scanner Aelita.

Virtualization!

Meanwhile, in Sector Five, Jacob was slowly approaching the Tower room. He looked around, and at first saw nothing before he saw the blue blocks that made up the walls floating down to create a bridge to the Tower, which was suspended in mid-air. Then he watched as red ripples appeared on the outside of the Tower, and a figure walked out of the Tower. It was a young boy, about 12 or 13, wearing a pitch-black bodysuit with red embellishments and the Eye of XANA on the chest. Jacob tensed as he saw his enemy, and XANA's eyes lit up in cruel humor.

"Oh, come now, I didn't come here to do you any harm," he laughed playfully, his voice as cool and clear as ice. It would have sent chills down Jacob's spine had he been on Earth. "We both know why you're here…" he said, with the faintest hint of a snarl in his voice…

"What?" Jeremy said as he pulled up the map of Kadic City on his screen. "Aelita, we've got a problem! XANA ahs possessed a train from the train station and he's turned it on the nuclear plant! You have to deactivate the Tower! Fast!"

"Okay, Jeremy. We can see it now," she said as a pair of Tarantulas materialized in front of it. Looking around, no more monsters appeared, and Aelita was taken slightly by surprise.

"This is it?" Willaim asked with a bit of humor in his voice. "Charge!" he yelled as he ran towards the two Tarantulas. They began firing on him, but he yelled, "Super Smoke!" ad disappeared, reforming behind the two beasts and slaying them both with a slice of his sword. They exploded, and after waiting a moment to make sure that nothing else was going to ambush them, William looked at Aelita and said, "Well, I guess your Tower awaits you." Aelita ran in and floated up to the second platform, placing her hand on the Interface to activate it.

AELITA  
CODE:

The train continued to race as it was now only a few seconds from colliding with the plant…

LYOKO

"Tower deactivated," Aelita said as the screens fell around her.

The train rolled to a stop a few feet from the wall of the nuclear plant as XANA's spectral energy hissed and drifted away out of the smokestack.

Aelita came out of the Tower a few moments later and looked at William before saying aloud, "That seemed _too_ easy…"

"I know," Jeremy replied. "Let me see how Odd's doing. Odd?"

"Yeah, Einstein, I'm almost there," he replied as he raced through the end of a maze and found the corridor leading to the Tower room.

"Wait, what?" Jeremy asked aloud as an alert message came across his screen. He pulled up the Sector Five Holomap and scanned it for a few seconds before gasping. "It's as if—oh, no!"

"What is it, Jeremy?" Aelita asked over the connection.

"XANA himself has come on to Lyoko! It's all been a trap! I'm launching my Teleportation program! You guys need to get to Sector Five _right now_!"

"Yeah, we know why I'm here. You took my parents from me. I want them back, XANA!" he hissed as XANA laughed, a sound like none he had ever heard before.

"That can be arranged…" he growled as his eyes began to glow dark red. The Eye on his chest began to glow as Jacob backed up out of uncertainty. XANA called a stream of smoke from the side wall, and it began to split, forming a wall of Creepers between himself and his prey. A squad of Mantas began to hatch from the walls as well, and in a matter of a few seconds, Jacob was staring in the face a small army. His eyes widened as he realized it had all been a trap… "I killed your parents long ago!" he growled, his voice changing to the distorted pitch that the gang knew so well. "But you eluded me! You have for too long! It's time for me to kill the last person with the ability to get rid of me!" he screamed maniacally. "Monsters, attack!" he commanded as they began to close on Jacob, who closed his eyes and prepared for the end…

"Bonzai!" Odd yelled as a volley of Laser Arrows flew from behind Jacob, colliding with a half dozen Creepers and blowing them to bits. An Energy Field and a pair of fans soon followed behind them, taking out a Manta and two more Creepers, and XANA growled in frustration as Aelita, William, Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd appeared behind Jacob. Aelita smiled as she placed a hand on Jake's shoulder.

"You're an idiot," she scolded. "But we would never leave you alone," she added as XANA looked each one of them in the eye.

"You're all gathered here in one place…this is working out better than I had planned. I'll just take all of you down at once!" he cried as his army of monsters converged on the Warriors again.

"We'll take the monsters, Jacob; you take care of XANA!" Ulrich yelled as a Creeper fired at him. He dodged the shot and sprinted around it, circling it before stabbing his sabre through its head, destroying it. Odd and Aelita were firing Laser Arrows and energy orbs at the Mantas in an effort to take them down, while Yumi and William were surrounded by a circle of Creepers, which they were working at dispatching. This left only XANA…and Jaocb stared at him for a long moment before he spoke.

"It's time I settled this!" he cried as he rushed towards XANA. XANA just grinned evilly, and dodged as Jacob fired an Energy Field. He then summoned an orb of black smoke, and returned fire. Jacob barely managed to dodge the orb before he reached XANA and prepared to strike again. XANA just laughed and tripped Jacob, mercifully allowing him time to return to his feet.

"I have to let you have a bit of a chance," he grinned. "Not that it matters anyways. Look around," he laughed as Jacob saw the monsters beginning to get the upper hand on his friends. He watched this for a moment in horror, and then a wave of rage overtook him, and he felt a surge of energy well up from within…

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" he screamed as he summoned his Energy Fields and released a surge of energy from his fingertips, blasting a huge fireball across the room that turned into a firestorm which incinerated XANA's entire army. XANA just turned in shock, and then looked back at Jacob, whose eyes were lit in fury. "This ends now!" he hissed. "You and me," he added as XANA began to chuckle. Jacob looked at his friends, and used his Telepathy to tell them, "_Get out of here! This is my fight!_" Everyone but Aelita backed up and got out of there, but she stayed a moment longer and looked at him sadly before turning and running, leaving Jacob and XANA face-to-face.

"Protecting your friends; how noble!" XANA hissed as he summoned a stream of smoke from the Data Barrier below. It solidified into a serrated, evil-looking black sword, and over a secure connection, Jeremy said in Jacob's ear, "_The firestorm was incredible! Your powers are far beyond anything I've ever seen before. From what I've found out, you can manipulate your Energy Fields into virtually any weapon you want!_" With this knowledge, Jacob summoned an Energy Field and morphed it until it solidified into a deep purple sword, and he looked at XANA expectantly.

"It's time," he said simply before charging at XANA, who responded by running in himself. The two foes met in the middle of the pathway and exchanged blows, parrying each other's attacks continuously with the utmost precision and accuracy. Jacob's blade sparked as he blocked a slash by XANA, and he forced XANA's blade back, creating a shower of sparks before XANA was pushed back. Both adversaries panted in exhaustion before readying themselves one more time. XANA ran at Jacob, but Jacob twisted to the side just enough to send XANA crashing past him, and he fired a perfectly placed Energy Field which hit XANA's leg and sent him tumbling to the ground. Jacob was over him in an instant, holding the tip of his sword to XANA's throat. As he prepared to deliver the finishing blow, he hesitated, and in that instant, XANA saw weakness in his eyes. He laughed, and as he turned into a smoky cloud and flew towards the Data Barrier below them, Jacob heard him whisper, "_You're weak, you coward. You couldn't bring yourself to do it!_" and in that moment, Jacob dropped to his knees and did something that should have been impossible on Lyoko. He cried…

Once the fighting was over, Jeremy sighed and brought Jacob in. Down in the Scanner Room, Jacob sat in the floor of the metal tube for a long time, tears streaming down his face, before the gang came down and found him there. Ulrich and Odd helped him to his feet, and he sniffled a moment before finally speaking.

"XANA's right," he whispered. "I am weak. I couldn't bring myself to do it. He was…too human. I always pictured some unseen enemy that we would take down. I never pictured my chance being like that…" he trailed off.

"Jacob, it's okay," Jeremy said as he put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think any one of us could do it. Not in cold blood like that. We'll find a way. Whatever happens, we'll find a way."

"At least now we know that XANA's not afraid to show his face around us," William pointed out.

"I'm not so sure," Aelita replied thoughtfully.

"I agree," Jacob added; his voice steadier now. "The whole time, I could sense that XANA was expending a lot of effort to maintain his form on Lyoko. I think this was purely an effort to strike revenge against me and break my will. I don't think he's capable of consistently attacking us like that. But," he continued, "He didn't accomplish his goal. If he thinks he can scare me and get me to give up, he's wrong. And what's more, I've got my friends standing beside me," he smiled as Ulrich put a hand on his other shoulder. "This fight isn't over. Next time XANA strikes, we'll be ready for him. It's time to show him that we aren't afraid of anything he can throw at us!"

LW94: So XANA finally shows his face…Ooh…scary! Haha, be ready, because in a few chapters, my first-ever two-part episode will begin! But, in order to get that far, you guys have to READ AND REVIEW! So do it!


	8. Episode 103:  XANA's Bite

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**Episode 103: XANA's Bite**

"Ungh…" Ulrich groaned as he felt something wet on his face. He turned onto his side and saw Kiwi staring him in the face! The little dog almost looked as if he was grinning, and Ulrich growled as he sat up and tossed Kiwi unceremoniously onto the floor. He then grabbed his pillow and threw it at Odd's head. "Odd! Your dog woke me up again! And its Sunday for crying out loud!" he complained as Odd groaned and groggily sat up.

"Well it's not my fault…" he whined.

"Your dog, your fault," Ulrich replied as he got up and grabbed a pair of clothes. "I'll see you at breakfast…"

Downstairs, Jeremy and Aelita were already eating when Jacob came down to join them.

"Morning, lovebirds!" he laughed when he saw the two share a quick kiss. They blushed as Aelita turned back to her food, and Jacob felt a little bad. "Sorry if I interrupted anything…" he said quietly.

"No, it's okay," Aelita smiled. "Just startled me a bit, that's all. You're up early for a Sunday, aren't you?" she asked quizzically.

"Yeah…couldn't sleep…" he sighed, leaving the two to stare as his eyes became lost in space. He sat there for a few moments, and then pushed his plate away, leaving his food untouched as he walked back upstairs to his room. Once he had gone, Aelita turned to Jeremy.

"I'm worried about him," she said.

"I am too…" Jeremy replied softly. "I think that battle with XANA took more of a toll on him than we thought," he mused. "Aelita…" he trailed off, unsure of where to go. Aelita, however, read his eyes, and put an arm around him.

"He's just a friend. Jeremy, nothing will ever come between us," she reassured as she kissed him on the cheek. "Understand?" she asked as he blushed for the second time.

"Yeah," he grinned.

Upstairs, Jacob sighed as he got into the shower and turned the water on full-blast, letting the warmth run over his body. He thought he had been okay after he got back from Lyoko, but he kept seeing that face over and over in his head. And those eyes…they had looked so human. A shudder racked his body as he thought about it, and he just stood there for a long time before finally washing his body and turning the water off. He wrapped a towel around himself before he came out and quickly got changed in the back dressing room before heading back to his room and grabbing his laptop. Leaving a note that he knew Odd or Ulrich would find when they came to check on him, he slipped away into the shadows and headed for the Factory…

"Odd, I'm just tired of all the havoc he causes!" Ulrich snapped as Odd stared him down.

"But what do you want me to do about it?" he asked, his voice cracking a bit.

"Either keep a tighter rein on him, or…" Ulrich trailed off, and Odd's eyes turned from nervous to furious as the realization of what wasn't said hit him.

"Oh, so that's how you want it?" he asked angrily. "Fine! You can kiss this roommate good-bye!" he growled as he put Kiwi back into the drawer under his bed and stormed out of the room.

"Odd! Odd, wait!" Ulrich pleaded as Odd stormed down the hall, not looking back.

Downstairs, Jeremy and Aelita were just heading back upstairs when Odd came up and flew past them. They watched this in confusion as Yumi and William came up to join them.

"What's gotten into him this morning?" William queried.

"I have no idea…" Aelita replied. "Maybe he missed a meal," she chuckled.

"I'll see if I can talk to him," Yumi said as she started after him, but Jeremy stopped her.

"You might want to let him calm down a while first," he said. "The last time he was this mad, it took him a week before he would talk to any of us, remember?" Yumi nodded after a moment, remembering the incident. As she did, it clicked in all of their heads, and the four of them said at the exact same time:

"Ulrich."

Meanwhile, Jacob had arrived at the Factory, and he swung down the rope to the Lift Entrance. He hopped in quickly, and got off when the doors opened at the Laboratory. He walked over to the chair and sat down, slipping on a headset as he did. Once the screens were online, he began to traverse the different projects that the gang was working on. He made a few tweaks to maintain the Skid rebuilding before scrolling over to Antea's file to check on the decryption. He saw that a few sections had been decoded, and he scanned through them. It was mostly background information, but he did see one piece of information that intrigued him…

Coordinates: 60°0′N, 105°0′E

Status: Currently active

Jacob plugged the coordinates into a virtual map of the Earth, and it spit out a location almost immediately. "Siberia?" Jacob mused aloud as he launched the SuperScan out of curiosity. He plugged in a few vectors and started the scan. It whirred for a few moments, and then an alert message popped up. He clicked it, and was floored when a dot began to blink on the Holomap. He got up and walked to the display, manipulating it until he could see a sphere floating among the data columns in the Digital Sea. "Whoa…" he muttered as he walked back to the main computer. He saved copies of all of the results, vowing to return to this mystery at another point when he was startled by a sudden beeping from the Supercomputer. A red exclamation point appeared on his screen, and a few seconds later the SuperScan appeared with the coordinates of an Activated Tower in the Forest Sector…

"Here we go again…" he sighed.

Meanwhile, back at Kadic, Odd had finally cooled off enough to maybe go and apologize to Ulrich. He opened the door quietly, and found Ulrich sitting on his bed. "Ulrich?" he said quietly.

"What do you want?" Ulrich replied heatedly, at which Odd flinched slightly before he sat down on his own bed.

"I guess I kind of need to apologize for earlier…I shouldn't have gotten so upset with you…" he admitted as Ulrich sat up and looked over at him.

"It's not just your fault. I shouldn't have gotten so upset with Kiwi. So I'm sorry too. Are we okay?" he asked as he walked over and put his arm around Odd's shoulder. Odd just smiled as he punched Ulrich playfully in the arm.

"Yeah, we're cool, buddy," Odd grinned as suddenly, they heard screaming from outside the dorms. The two rushed down to see what the matter was, and saw Yumi, William, Jeremy, and Aelita with a group of younger students being attacked by a vicious pack of dogs. The two boys quickly ran over to help, and Jeremy barely had time to hiss out, "They're possessed! It's a XANA attack!" before the dogs managed to grab his shirt.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ulrich yelled as he dragged Jeremy back, and heard the satisfying rip of his shirt, which meant Jeremy was free. "Take the girls and get to the Factory! William, Odd and I will handle things here!" he hissed as he yelped in pain. Realizing for an instant that he had been bitten by one of the dogs, Ulrich gasped, and then felt a strange sensation as his eyes flickered, and a few moments later were replaced by the Eye of XANA. Due to this, the remaining young students had also been bitten, and they were also possessed. They lined up beside Ulrich, and faced Odd and William, who looked at each other briefly.

"Well, I'm going to feel bad about this tomorrow," Odd said before charging Ulrich…

Meanwhile, Jeremy and the girls had managed to get to the sewer entrance in the park, and Yumi was trying to reach Jacob. His phone rang beside him, and he picked up on the third ring. "Hey, Yumi," he said.

"Where are you? XANA's launched an attack. Ulrich and a bunch of students have been possessed. XANA's using a bunch of dogs to bite everyone they can."

"I know there's an activated Tower," he replied. "I'll go ahead and virtualize myself, and you guys can meet me on Lyoko."

"Ha, no guys in this equation," she laughed. "It'll be me and Aelita. We're on our way," she finished as she hung up and grabbed her skateboard. "Jake's already at the Factory," she explained as the trio began to head quickly for the Factory. Once they arrived in the lab, Jeremy went over to the computer and punched a few keys.

"Jacob's already on Lyoko," he confirmed. "The activated Tower is in the Forest Sector," he added. "Head for the Scanners."

Transfer Yumi, Transfer Aelita.

Scanner Yumi, Scanner Aelita.

Virtualization!

A few moments later, Aelita and Yumi virtualized onto Lyoko, and they were surprised when they saw Jacob sitting on the ground nearby. He was sitting cross-legged, and he had two fingers on each of his temples. Yumi walked slowly over to him and saw that he was shaking slightly, and she put a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he turned around, and when he saw it was her, he said quietly:

"Good. I was beginning to worry you might not make it."

"Are you sure you're up to this?" she asked him. He sighed deeply, and took a moment before replying.

"I'm sure," he finally said, his voice unwavering. "Let's do this!" he said as Yumi helped him to his feet. Jeremy smiled from behind his screen, and said, "Good, now the three of you are there. I'm virtualizing your vehicles!" A few seconds later, two Overwings, one purple and one pink, and Jacob's Overwheel appeared on Lyoko. "I decided it was time I worked on a vehicle for Aelita. Sorry it's not original like the others' are, but I know you like the feel of the Overwing, Aelita," Jeremy commented.

"It's great, Jeremy; thank you!" she grinned as the trio hopped onto their vehicles.

"The Tower is northeast of your position; hurry!" he added as they took off…

Back at Kadic…

"Urgh!" Odd groaned as Ulrich wrestled with him. "This is what I get for not taking any martial arts classes…" he yelped as Ulrich twisted Odd's arm behind his back, and then did something he would only do while under possession. He chuckled and bit Odd's arm. Odd cried out in pain, and when he looked up a few moments later, his pupils had been replaced with the Eye of XANA. He wheeled around to face William, who took a step back and chuckled nervously…

"Oh, boy…" he groaned. "I have to deal with two of them?" he sighed as they charged towards him…

Meanwhile, on Lyoko, Aelita, Yumi, and Jacob were making quick pace towards the Tower when a laser blast came out of nowhere and slammed into Jacob's vehicle, devirtualizing it and sending him crashing to the ground. He rolled a few times before coming to a stop and shaking his head quickly to clear his vision.

"Jacob!" Yumi cried as she saw a swarm of creepy bug-looking things headed straight for him. She immediately swerved around and headed back to help.

"Unh…" Jacob groaned as he got to his feet. He looked around for what had hit him, and it wasn't until he heard, "Behind you!" that he whirled around and yelled, "Energy Field!" firing an orb and destroying one of the bugs. They, however; returned fire, and he was hit twice, once in the shoulder and once in the chest.

"Jacob, you just lost thirty life points!" Jeremy warned. "These things don't play around," he added to himself as Jacob blasted another Energy Field at them, but the four bugs flew out of the way and fired again. This time, he jumped out of the way to avoid the shots, but almost lost his balance as he landed on the very edge of the ground beneath him, and he had barely stabilized himself when another blast hit him in the chest, and he cried out in shock as he fell backwards and was devirtualized.

"No!" Yumi yelled as she threw her fans, slicing through the bugs' elongated bodies and wiping all four of them out in one fatal attack.

"Urgh!" Jacob yelled as he punched the wall of the Scanner upon his rematerialization.

Back at Kadic, William was pinned against the wall by Odd, and Ulrich laughed in a distorted voice as he whispered in William's ear, "_You had to know I'd come after you sooner or later, didn't you, William? I don't like losing my helpers,_" he added as William struggled against Odd's grip.

"You'll never take me again, XANA!" Willaim screamed as he fought Odd's grip futilely. An idea suddenly struck him, and he lashed out behind him with his booted foot, slamming into Odd's stomach and causing the grip on his wrist to release for a moment. William used this opportunity to sprint away, and Ulrich looked at Odd with fury in his eyes.

"_After him!_" he yelled in that distorted, staticky voice as the two of them, followed by the growing group of students that were now possessed, ran after William…

"Jeremy, we're being followed again!" Yumi hissed as she heard a swarm of Hornets tailing them as they approached the Tower.

"Shake them! Aelita has to get to the Tower!" Jeremy yelled as Jacob came up to join him.

"How are they doing, hotshot?" Jacob asked.

"Not well," Jeremy replied. "I don't know how much longer they can hold out…" he muttered.

"Hi-yahh!" Yumi said as she flew around and threw her fans at the Hornets, who took evasive action and returned fire, managing to clip Yumi's Overwing and devirtualize it, sending her crashing to the ground a short distance from the Tower.

"No, Yumi!" Aelita cried as she landed quickly and turned back to face the Hornets. She closed her eyes and began to sing, focusing on the Hornets as she willed the tree closest to Yumi to fall. The bottom of the trunk began to fragment, and when it disappeared, the tree began to fall. Yumi gasped as she looked up and saw not only the tree falling, but also the approaching Hornets. One of them managed to get one more laser blast off, and it was the last thing it ever did as the tree came down on the swarm, crushing all five of them in one fell swoop as the tree landed a few inches from Yumi. Aelita ran over to her and helped her up.

"You okay, Yumi?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, Aelita, I'm—look out!" she yelled as she pushed Aelita out of the way of an oncoming laser. She took the barrage of hits and was devirtualized. Aelita looked in the direction of the Tower and saw that the lasers had come from a Tarantula standing in front of the Tower. It turned to look at her, and began charging its lasers…

"Urghhhh!" William screamed as Odd grabbed him by the throat and pinned him to the ground. Ulrich and the other students stood over him and cackled as their hands began to spark.

"_You should not have defied me!_" he growled as all of them sent electricity bolts into William's chest. He screamed in agony as pain surged through him, and spots began to appear in his vision as he struggled to stay conscious…

"You should know not to mess with my friends, XANA!" Aelita cried as she charged a massive Energy Field. "Yahh!" she yelled as she blasted it at the Tarantula, and upon contact, it obliterated the beast into tiny bits. Aelita then ran for the Tower…

William's screams began to lessen as he weakened even further. Ulrich just cackled as they increased the surge of electricity…

Aelita entered the Tower, and began to float up to the second platform…

"_You're going to pay, William. Forever…_" Ulrich hissed as he watched William's struggles slow almost to a stop.

"Unh…" William moaned softly as his vision began to darken…

AELITA

CODE:

He couldn't do it. His body wouldn't respond to him anymore. A tear slid out of the corner of William's eye as his mind faced the inevitable. His movements all but stopped, and he closed his eyes…

LYOKO

"Tower deactivated," Aelita said as the screens fell…

"Ooh…" Ulrich moaned as XANA's specters flew out of him. He, Odd, and all of the possessed students and townspeople collapsed to the ground, passed out. Across town, the dogs that had been possessed whimpered as the Eye of XANA left their pupils, and they fell onto their sides, sound asleep… William moaned softly as he finally gave up the struggle to maintain consciousness, and allowed his mind to black out knowing that the attack had been thwarted in time…

"Whew…" Jacob sighed as he watched the scene on Lyoko unfold from Aelita's visual.

"That was _too_ close…" Jeremy breathed as he punched in a command quickly. "Return to the Past, now!" he yelled as the familiar white bubble enveloped everything; Kadic City, William, Odd, Ulrich, the mass of Kadic students, and all of the affected townspeople…

"Ungh…" Ulrich groaned as he felt something wet on his face. He turned onto his side and saw Kiwi staring him in the face! The little dog almost looked as if he was grinning, and Ulrich growled as he sat up. Odd was still asleep, and Ulrich sat and thought for a moment as he remembered flashes of what had happened. He then looked at Kiwi with the slightest of smiles, and rubbed the little dog's head.

"I'd rather have you any day of the week over one of those brutes I dealt with today," he smiled as the little dog looked at him and let out one bark in happiness…

LW94: Aww…how sweet, Ulrich!

Ulrich: Oh, hush! Usually I'm not that nice!

LW94: Hah! Usually you don't say that much either! Anyways…we're getting closer to the first-ever two-part episode of my fanfic! It will be big! No spoilers; but expect sweeping changes! And of course, to get there you must READ AND REVIEW! LOL…


	9. Episode 104:  On The Edge

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**Episode 104: On the Edge**

"So, Jeremy, have you made any more progress on my mom's file?" Aelita asked as he sat working at the Factory late in the evening. Jacob tensed up, hoping he had hidden his discoveries enough to keep everyone out of the way until he could get confirmation of his suspicions. If he was right, Aelita would be thrilled…

"No, not yet…" he sighed, and in his head, Jacob let out a cheer of joy. "The encryption levels are way beyond anything I've ever seen before," he admitted. "It's going to take some time before I have anything definitive, I'm afraid…" He trailed off, not wanting to meet Aelita's gaze for fear that he had disappointed her, but she walked over to him and hugged him.

"Don't get discouraged, Jeremy," she told him. "You're doing all you can; I know that," she reassured as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Hearing this made Jacob feel uneasy, but he knew if he was right, the others would forgive him for hiding his suspicion. If XANA found it…things would not be good…

"I know; I just wish I had more for you…" he sighed. "Oh well, it'll do no good worrying about it, huh?" he smiled, perking up. "I do have some good news, though. I've been working on the programming for the Skid, and it's just about done! The final steps should take place tomorrow after class, and then we should have the Skid totally operational again!"

"Really, Jeremy?" Jacob asked in surprise. "That's great; that's really great!"

"Yeah, I'm excited too," he agreed. "Now we can finally hunt through the Network again."

"Don't get your hopes up yet, Einstein," Jacob reminded him cautiously. "We still have to make sure it will work first…"

"Yeah…" Jeremy agreed. "Well, it's getting late; shall we head back?" he asked as the trio headed for the Lift…

The next day…

"Uhh…no!" Jacob moaned as he shot up in bed from a fitful sleep. He blinked and noticed that the sun was up behind his thick curtains. He shook his head and was startled by a knock at his door, and he opened it to see Jeremy standing there with a folder of paperwork in his hand.

"Oh, hey Jeremy," he said groggily. "What's up?"

"I thought I'd bring by your things from class today," he explained. "Jim heard you last night and sent a message out saying you were sick today. We all thought it was best to let you sleep…" he said sheepishly as Jacob stared at him with a puzzled look on his face.

"It must have been the nightm—wait, what time is it, Einstein?" he asked.

"Almost two in the afternoon…"

"Two? That late? I wish you had woke me up…" he sighed.

"Well…I was going to, but I still don't think you've quite recovered yet…and I'm just trying to look out for you…"

"I—" Jacob stopped when the words sunk in. "I know, Jeremy," he finally said. "I'm sorry; I guess I'm just really stressed…"

"I know. Here, I brought you some lunch," he added as he handed him the paper bag that was in his other hand. Just then, Aelita and Ulrich appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, buddy, glad to see you're finally in the land of the living," Ulrich smiled.

"Are you feeling any better today?" Aelita asked gently.

"Yeah," Jacob replied. "I slept a little better last night," he said. That was kind of true, actually; the nightmares hadn't been as bad. "I—do you guys have anywhere to be right away? It would be nice to have some company for a while…"

"Nah, we don't have anywhere to be. Last class ended a few minutes ago," Ulrich answered. "Lemme grab Odd and we'll sit with you a while." Ulrich walked down the hall, and Aelita and Jeremy walked in and sat down on Jacob's bed next to him.

"Okay, you two, you're grinning; what's up?" Jacob asked when he saw the smiles on Aelita's and Jeremy's faces. They looked at each other for a minute before turning back to him.

"We finished the Skid!" they said in unison, and Jacob broke into a grin.

"You're kidding?" he exclaimed. "That's awesome!" he grinned.

"You feel up to trying it out tonight?" Jeremy asked him. Aelita glared at him, thinking in her head that Jacob still needed to rest, but he instead grinned with excitement.

"I can't wait!" he smiled as Ulrich and Odd popped back in.

"Hey, buddy!" Odd crowed. "Glad you're not a zombie!"

"Odd!" Ulrich scowled as he gave him a punch in the shoulder.

"What?" he asked innocently as the two noticed Jacob's excited grin.

"They told you, huh?" Ulrich asked, and Jacob nodded. "You ready for your first _real_ trip into the Digital Sea?"

"Absolutely! I can't wait!" he replied, already anticipating the excitement that was to come…

Yumi was at her home entertaining her little brother Hiroki when she got a call from Jeremy. "Hey, Jeremy. What? That's great! Of course! I'll be there!" she said as she hung up and ran to grab her coat. "Mom! Dad! I'll be back later!" she said as she ran out the door and headed up the street to grab William from the arcade and head for Kadic…

That evening, the entire group was gathered in the lab as Jeremy put the last touches on the new Skid. It was a little bigger than the old model, but kept all of the same features, with upgraded shields and weapons, including laser cannons and torpedo launchers hooked into the cockpit for Aelita to use as well. He pressed a few keys, and Jacob watched as an empty section on the body of the Skid morphed and the wire framework warped into a NavSkid. "There we go! Your own NavSkid, Jacob!" he smiled.

"It looks amazing!" Jacob said excitedly. "Are we ready to go?" he asked, but the entire gang was distracted by a call on Jacob's phone. He picked it up and answered. "Hello?"

"_Jacob, it's Johnny. Where are you?_" he asked.

"Out, why?" he replied. He was tutoring Johnny at the moment and was getting to know the younger boy pretty well. He also knew that no matter how much the 7th grader tried to deny it, Johnny had a _HUGE_ crush on Yumi, but he had decided to keep that secret to himself.

"_Jim's going to do his rounds early. You need to get back here! I don't want you to get in trouble._"

"Okay, thanks for the warning," Jacob finished as he hung up and turned to the gang. "Jim's doing rounds early. We need to get back, and in a hurry," he said quickly.

"Aw! Why does Jim have to spoil all the fun?" Odd complained as the gang said goodbye to Yumi and raced back to the school…

"Hurry, we don't want to get caught!" Jaocb whispered as he, Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremy crept into the hallway and made for their rooms. Unfortunately, they didn't quite make it, as Jim's door opened and he caught the four red-handed…

"Belpois! Stern! Della Robbia! Matthews! What are you doing out past curfew?" he asked loudly.

"Uh…we were…I mean…we were…"

"What Jeremy is trying to say, Jim," Jacob interrupted, "is that you started your rounds early. We still have…" he looked at his watch quickly and said, "five minutes before curfew." Jim checked his watch, and stammered, "Well, so you do. All right, you four, you're off the hook this time, but don't let me catch you cutting it this close again!" he added with a stern look on his face. "Now off to bed, all of ya!" he finished as the four boys split for their rooms…

The next morning, Jacob woke up early, and walked down to breakfast to already find Yumi, William, and Aelita at their table. He smiled when he saw them, and grabbed a tray of food before joining them. "Last night was eventful," he sighed.

"Why, what happened?" Yumi asked with a smile.

"We got caught sneaking back in by Jim. I thought we were going to be sent to Delmas for sure!" he explained. "But we got off because Jim started early and we barely made it back," he breathed.

"That's good to hear," William replied.

"Yeah, I sure wouldn't want to be on Delmas' bad side, especially that late," Yumi laughed as Sissy came up to their table. Jacob saw this, groaned, and turned to her, trying to put a smile on his face.

"What can I do for you, Sissi?" he asked politely, but Aelita could hear the effort he was putting into it, and had to suppress a smile.

"Have you seen Ulrich yet this morning?" she asked impatiently. "We were supposed to have plans today…"

"Maybe in your mind…" Yumi said under her breath.

"No, I haven't seen him," Jacob replied. "But, when I see him, I'll tell him you were looking for him. I'm sure he'll make sure his schedule's nice and full for you," he laughed as Sissi turned red and growled.

"Urgh!" she spluttered. "You losers just don't know who you're messing with, do you? One of these days, you'll all pay!" she shot back as she stormed off. Ulrich saw this as he was walking up, and looked at his friends, who were now laughing hysterically.

"What did you do now?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh, Sissi was looking for you, that's all," Yumi grinned.

"Yeah," Aelita smiled. "But we took care of her for you. If she asks you, by the way, your schedule's full," she added as Jacob giggled. Ulrich smiled and sat down.

"I guess I don't want to know what you did, but thanks for doing it," he laughed. "I don't think I could stand Sissi today," he said as Jeremy and Odd finally came into the cafeteria.

"Good morning, everybody!" Odd grinned, always his usual cheery self. "So, who's ready for some more XANA butt-kicking?" he asked as Aelita laughed.

"Well, someone's a little eager," she smiled.

"So, are we a go for tonight, Jeremy?" William asked as Jeremy sat down.

"Yep," he smiled enthusiastically. "Tonight, we take the Skid out for a new adventure!"

Classes flew by for the entire gang; Jacob didn't think he learned a thing in Math, he was so excited to get to the Factory. Odd never paid attention in Mrs. Hertz's class anyways, but he was especially excited today. He couldn't wait to take the Skid for a swim! And even Jeremy, who _hated_ PE, got through it with little problem. Once the last bell rang, the entire gang met up at the dorm entrance, and Jeremy explained the plan.

"Okay, so here's the deal. We're just running diagnostics to make sure everything's working properly, and _if_ there's time, we'll explore for a bit. That cool with everybody?"

"Aw, you just have to take all the fun out of it, Einstein," Odd complained.

"Don't worry, Odd," Aelita laughed. "If this run works, we'll have plenty of time to go on some real missions again."

"I know, but still," he laughed as suddenly, a beeping was heard from Jeremy's and Jacob's bags. Jeremy grabbed his laptop, and opened it quickly to see what he was most worried about…

"Oh, no! XANA's attacking the Skid! If we don't protect it, the stabilization could be affected and the whole Skid could collapse!" he exclaimed in dismay. "We have to get to Lyoko ASAP!"

"Then let's go!" Ulrich said as the gang rushed for the park…

As soon as the gang arrived at the Factory entrance, Jeremy said, "Head for the Scanners! I'll virtualize you into Sector Five and you can head for the Skid hangar!" The Warriors ran for the Lift entrance, and when they arrived in the Scanner Room, Jacob said, "We're here, Einstein," to Jeremy over the speaker system.

"Great! Two groups of three! I'll start the procedure!"

Transfer Odd, Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Yumi.

Scanner Odd, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Yumi.

Virtualization!

Transfer William, Transfer Aelita, Transfer Jacob.

Scanner William, Scanner Aelita, Scanner Jacob.

Virtualization!

After a few moments, all six Warriors were on the ground in the Arena, and it took just a few seconds for Jeremy to open the door into the Core Zone.

"_Head for the elevator! Once you're on, it will take you all the way to the hangar room!_" The six of them took off through the corridor, and once they reached the first Core Zone room, stopped when they saw a matrix of lasers blocking their passage to the corridor that would take them to the elevator.

"Well, looks like XANA's not playing around," Jacob commented as he walked around to get a better look at the devices that were creating the lasers. He charged an Energy Field, but stopped when Jeremy came over the com-link and said, "_Would you guys hurry up! The Skid's shields are down to 40% and won't hold up much longer!_"

"We're working on it, genius!" Jacob scowled as he fired an Energy Field at the metal sphere that was creating the laser beam. When the device did not shatter, he thought for a moment before muttering "Aha!" under his breath, and turning to Aelita quickly. "I'll need a hand, Princess. We need to generate our Energy Shields long enough to block the laser web so that the others can get through." When he explained it, Aelita understood it after a moment, and got in position on Jacob's opposite side as they charged up their Energy Fields before opening their mouths to sing. The result was that the energy orbs began to shift and expand until they formed two translucent walls of energy which blocked off the laser matrix. As they held the walls in place, Jacob and Aelita grunted, "Well don't just stand there! Let's go!" The others then understood the order and ran through, and once the pair was safely on the other side, Jacob held up his hand and dissolved the two energy walls, allowing the lasers to snap back into place and seal the path off just before a group of Creepers appeared to try and ambush them. Avoiding the intermittent lasers that they fired through the laser web, Jacob and Aelita managed to catch up to the others just as they reached the elevator. It swung down from above on its track, and stopped to let them on. The six quickly got on and the elevator shot upward as it headed for the room with the Skid hangar in it.

"_The Skid's power is down to 20%!_" Jeremy said as they approached the entrance to the Skid hangar. "_You have got to take down the monsters attacking it fast!_"

"We're on it!" Ulrich said as the elevator stopped and the gang rushed off, instantly seeing a squadron of Mantas, Creepers, and some weird-looking monsters that resembled eyeballs attached to a rope with a chicken foot at the bottom. Odd looked at the little things for a moment, and then said:

"Well, they look like little dust mites with a giant eyeball!" he quipped. "They're Mites!"

"We get it, Odd!" Yumi groaned. "You've named all of XANA's pets! Can we save the Skid now?" she asked as she charged in with Ulrich and William. "Hi-yahh!" she yelled as she threw her fans at a pair of the Mites, and watched in satisfaction as their eyeball heads were chopped off and they exploded.

"Super Sprint!" Ulrich yelled as he charged in and slashed a pair of Creepers. They exploded, and Ulrich turned around to continue fighting when he was struck in the head from behind by a laser from a Manta. He groaned as he dropped to his knees and devirtualized a moment later.

"Ulrich!" Yumi gasped as she turned around to throw her fans at the Manta when she was hit by three lasers from a trio of Creepers that had snuck up behind her. "Hi-yahh!" she yelled as she threw her fans at them, but she only managed to hit one, and the other two fired again and devirtualized her as well before turning their fire again on the Skid…

"Oh, no you don't!" Odd yelled as he let off a barrage of Laser Arrows that impacted the Creepers and destroyed them. "Yahoo!" he cheered, but barely had time to react when William said, "Look out!" before he was struck by a Manta laser that knocked him backwards, and as he lost his balance, Jacob was forced to blast him with an Energy Field before Odd fell into the Data Barrier below.

"Ugh…" Odd groaned as he reappeared in the Scanner.

"Super Smoke!" William yelled as he disappeared and circled a group of Creepers before destroying them. Jacob surveyed the scene as Jeremy yelled, "_5% power left! Do something!_" He mused for half a second, and said:

"You won't like this, Jeremy, but it's the only way to trash them!" He then circled his fingers around his body, leaving a trail of sparks in their wake as he charged power in his fingertips before blasting forward and shooting a huge bolt of electricity into the Skid. The shock overcharged the shields on contact, and caused them to fire back an energy pulse that wiped out all of XANA's remaining monsters on contact. Once the shock had subsided, Aelita, Jacob, and William stood in the hangar while Jeremy surveyed the damage quickly.

"_It's bad…_" he muttered as Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich gathered with him in the Lab, "_The Skid sustained massive damage from the monsters alone and that stunt Jacob pulled completely fried the engines! It's going to take weeks to reboot…_" Jeremy growled, trailing off.

"I'm sorry, Jeremy…" Jacob offered as Aelita gave him a soft pat on the shoulder. Just then, Jeremy finally replied.

"Well, you were right about one thing," he agreed. "It was the only way. At least we don't have to start from scratch…"

"Way to look on the bright side, Jeremy," William complimented as Jeremy was distracted by a beeping from his screen. He pulled up the SuperScan quickly, and groaned.

"As if XANA didn't think that stunt was enough; now he's activated a Tower on top of it!" Jeremy growled as below him, two specters flew out of an outlet near the Supercomputer and morphed into two suited men similar in appearance to the MIB. They grabbed two pipes from the floor and began to wail on the Supercomputer itself…

"It's in the Mountain Sector," he added. "Get to the Celestial Dome and I'll open a tunnel to get you there as fast as possible!"

Once the trio was in the Celestial Dome, Jeremy quickly materialized Aelita's Overwing, the Overwheel, and Overdisc, and opened the tunnel, allowing the three Warriors to fly through and exit Sector Five. Once they had passed through the tunnel, they began to see the familiar purple crags of the Mountain Sector as they approached the edge of the Sector and descended to the surface of the nearest plateau. They landed, and all of a sudden, everything around them began to fade and spin, as if they were going to pass out, but all three of them were seeing it!

"Jeremy!" Aelita yelled. "Something's happening!"

Back in the Lab, Jeremy heard this as he watched his screens flicker madly for a few moments, and then return to normal as if nothing was wrong. Just as that happened, everything on Lyoko returned to normal as well.

"I'm not sure what's—" he broke off as an alert popped up on his screen and he checked the computer's status quickly to realize, "XANA's attacking the Supercomputer itself! Odd, Ulrich, go down to the basement and stop whatever it is! And you three," he said to Jacob, Aelita, and William, "get to the Tower fast!" No more had he said this than the trio dashed north on their vehicles until they were in striking distance of the Tower. Just then, a laser shot past William's head, and he swerved to avoid a second shot as Jeremy yelled, "Hornets! On your tail!"

"See them, Jeremy," he replied as they managed to blast his Overdisc, and he crashed to the ground. He picked up his Zweihander, and hefted it as they came at him. He closed his eyes, and his sword began to glow as he focused, and he yelled when he swung it, blasting a disc of energy at the Hornet swarm.

"Cool!" he exclaimed as they swerved to avoid it, and he didn't have time to react as they pummeled him with a barrage of acid and lasers, devirtualizing him almost immediately.

"Man! I get a cool ability and they blast me before I can really use it!" William grumbled when he reappeared in the Scanner.

Meanwhile, Odd and Ulrich had managed to get to the basement, and as soon as the two polymorphs saw them, they grunted and turned, their pipes ready, and charged at the pair. Odd looked at Ulrich, who nodded.

"Three!" he yelled as they charged the polymorphs and knocked them away from the Supercomputer…

"Aelita, get to the Tower!" Jacob yelled to her as they evaded the Hornets' lasers.

"I won't leave you alone!" she shot back as the squad turned to focus on Jacob. "Look out!" she screeched as they fired at him. He managed to swerve out of the way, but lost the Overwheel from under him and crashed to the ground right in front of the Tower. He closed his eyes as he prepared to be devirtualized…

"No!" Aelita screamed as she flew down and took the lasers, which knocked her off the Overwing and to the ground. "Uh…" she moaned as she fragmented and was devirtualized, leaving Jacob alone facing the squad of Hornets.

"It's all over!" Jeremy cried as the Hornets prepared to fire at Jacob.

Jacob, however; was not about to let the bugs get the best of him, and he rolled to the left, avoiding the lasers as he jumped to his feet. He charged two Energy Fields and fired, missing with one but nailing a Hornet with the other.

"One down," he muttered as they came at him again. He growled and formed a fireball in his hand, blasting a flame ring at the swarm of bugs, taking out two more of them. "Two, three," he panted as he ran to the side to evade another laser before charging and blasting an ice ray at one of the Hornets. The blue beam managed to hit the wings of the Hornet, and, unable to fly, it fell, missing the platform and falling into the Digital Sea. The beam of light came up to indicate impact.

"Four," he hissed as he barely avoided another laser. He was now standing right in front of the Tower, and as he swung his hand around, the last Hornet fired at him just as he fired a lightning bolt at the Hornet. It impacted the bug, destroying it as Jacob flew backwards…

"Jacob! Where'd you go?" Jeremy exclaimed as Jacob disappeared from his screen.

"I—I'm in the Tower…" he muttered in surprise as he looked around. "Let me try something…" he trailed off as he walked to the center of the lower platform, lighting up the rings as he touched them. When he reached the middle, he closed his eyes, and felt himself begin to rise up as he levitated…

"It's working!" Jeremy exclaimed as Aelita watched the screen in surprise.

"He can do it!" she smiled.

Jacob reached the second platform and touched down gently, lighting up the platform when he did. He walked purposefully to the Interface, and placed his hand on it. It lit up and beeped as it scanned his handprint.

CONFIRM USER?

YES? NO?

Jacob touched Yes, and after a moment, the screen flashed in recognition.

CONFIRMED. WELCOME BACK, JACOB. PLEASE RESCAN.

Surprised that the computer recognized him, Jacob did as it asked and placed his hand again on the Interface. It scanned his handprint again, and then…

JACOB

CODE:

L

Odd yelped as the polymorph threw him off…

Y

Aelita crossed her fingers nervously…

O

Ulrich tried to grab the pipe from the other polymorph, but it knocked him to the ground as well…

K

The second spectre raised his pipe and prepared to bring it down onto the Supercomputer for the finishing blow…

O

"Tower deactivated," Jacob smiled as he watched the screens fall around him…

"Whew…" Ulrich sighed as the polymorphs flickered and evaporated. He helped Odd up, and they headed for the Lift as Jeremy tapped a few keys upstairs.

"Return to the Past, now!" Jeremy yelled as the white bubble enveloped everything…

Back at the Factory, but earlier that afternoon…

"Jake, you totally saved the day!" Odd grinned.

"He did," Jeremy agreed.

"And now I'm not the only one that can deactivate Towers," Aelita pointed out.

"True," Jeremy nodded. "We'll have a lot easier time against XANA with both of you being able to deactivate Towers. That way, if Aelita can't get here and you can, Jacob, we're not out of options."

"Exactly," Jacob agreed. "I just can't figure out how the computer recognized me, though…" he muttered, trailing off. Jeremy mulled it over for a moment, but it was William who spoke.

"Didn't you say you came from another virtual world connected to Hopper's project?" he asked. Startled slightly, Jacob responded after a moment.

"Yes. My parents worked with Franz and Antea on Project Carthage," he replied as Jeremy understood.

"The coding would have been almost identical!" he exclaimed. "If they gave you the ability to deactivate Towers on your world, I'll bet it applies on Lyoko!"

"I bet you're right," Aelita agreed as an idea suddenly dawned in Jacob's eyes.

"If that's the case," he said, "Then I have an idea, Aelita…about how to find your father…"

LW94: Ooh…and the plot returns to Franz Hopper again…well, on that note, it's time! Coming up is the beginning of my first-ever two-part special. Apocalypse, Part I, is next!


	10. Episode 105:  Apocalypse, Part I

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**Episode 105: Apocalypse, Part I**

"Jacob!" Aelita said in his ear as she shook his shoulder to rouse him. He mumbled something about the Supercomputer, and then shot up, taking about five seconds to become aware of his surroundings before he spoke.

"Aelita? Oh, sorry, I must have dozed off…" he mumbled as he straightened up his papers and closed his laptop. He had actually been working on some upgrades to the SuperScan, and had stayed up almost three days straight trying to make sure it would work.

"What is it you've been working so intently on the last couple of days? We haven't seen hardly anything of you. I know it's semester break, but…" Aelita trailed off as Jacob looked at her strangely.

"Have I really been—what day is it, Princess?" he asked suddenly.

"It's Saturday. You've been working in here since yesterday morning," she told him. "In fact, I don't even think you ate yesterday, come to think of it. I never saw you come out of here…"

"Did I really not?" he asked her breathlessly. "I'm sorry; it's just—"

"Just what?" she asked, cutting him off. "Surely nothing is _that_ important that you can't eat until you've figured it out," she scolded him. "Come on, let's get you some food," she smiled as she dragged him away from his desk and down to the cafeteria…

In the lunchroom, Odd, William, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd were already eating when they looked up to see Aelita dragging Jacob in to get some food. Once she had gotten him over to Rosa, the lunch lady, who insisted he take a double helping, the two of them sat down at the table with the others.

"Well, another country heard from!" Odd laughed as Jacob sat next to Jeremy. "Where have you been, Jake?"

"He's been holed up in his room, working on _something_," Aelita explained as Jacob began to scarf down the food in front of him. "I don't think he ate at all yesterday," she laughed as he continued to ravage the plate of food.

"Looks like you're right, Aelita!" Jeremy laughed.

"Unfortunately," she sighed. "I told him that whatever he was working on could wait; that it wasn't that important," she sighed as Jacob finished his food and looked intently at her.

"That's the thing, Aelita! It _is_ that important!" he countered.

"Nothing could be so important that you would go an entire day without eating—" she argued, but he cut her off again when he explained:

"I've been working on a way to rescue your father!" At this statement, the entire table went silent, and after a few moments of this, Jeremy spoke up.

"But, Jacob, that's impossible," he said quietly. "Franz sacrificed himself to power the multi-agent system. He's gone…"

"Now hold on a minute, Einstein," he continued. "Hear me out on this one. Remember that DNA fragment that Aelita found on Lyoko a few weeks ago? The Tower in the Desert Sector?"

"Yeah, I remember," Jeremy said. "What's that got to do with this?"

"Well, I've been working at decrypting the file it was found in and resequencing the DNA profile. And I found that that DNA fragment belonged to Hopper!"

"What?" Aelita breathed in shock. "You found a trace of Daddy?"

"Well, it's his DNA, but it's not him, unfortunately," Jacob explained. "_But_, I managed to modify the SuperScan to accept the DNA fragment!" At this, Ulrich nodded, and Jeremy's jaw dropped.

"You mean—?"

"Yes, Einstein," Jacob sighed. "We can use the scan to search for Hopper!"

"Oh, that's great!" Aelita exclaimed as she ran over and hugged Jacob, kissing him on the cheek and making both he and Jeremy flush a few shades of red.

"I managed to find a really weak signal, but I haven't had any luck at nailing it down yet," he added. "But, I'm pretty sure that it's still on Lyoko. I think that that's our best bet to start searching for now," he finished as Aelita jumped up.

"Then we can't wait!" she exclaimed. "Let's go tonight!"

That night, Jacob gathered the whole group in the Lab, and he and Jeremy were at the Supercomputer trying to tweak the SuperScan just a little more.

"That should do it…" Jeremy muttered as Jacob sighed. Just then, the screen started blinking, and the SuperScan popped up with a set of coordinates in the Ice Sector.

"Yes!" Jacob crowed as he punched the air in triumph. "It worked! We've traced the signal to the Ice Sector! It's time to bring Franz home!"

"Are you guys ready, then?" Aelita asked as she turned to the others. Odd, Yumi, and William all nodded, but Ulrich seemed hesitant. "What is it, Ulrich?" she asked him.

"I don't know…" he muttered. "It's just; this seems to be working out all _too_ well. What if it's a trap?"

"Ulrich, you worry too much!" Aelita replied, shrugging his concern off.

"I can't believe we're finally going to bring your dad home, Aelita!" Yumi said with a smile as Jeremy punched the coordinates into the virtualization program.

"All right, gang. It's time to rescue one of our own!" Jeremy grinned. "Head for the Scanners!"

Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich, Transfer William.

Scanner Odd, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner William.

Virtualization!

Transfer Aelita, Transfer Yumi, Transfer Jacob.

Scanner Aelita, Scanner Yumi, Scanner Jacob.

Virtualization!

Moments later, all six Warriors appeared on Lyoko, and Jeremy's voice came over the link.

"_Now, you'll need to head a little north of here_," he told them. "_I'm detecting Franz's signature in some type of enclosed space_," he added. "_There's a Tower nearby you can use for a landmark_," he finished as they took off running. A few minutes later, Aelita cried, "Look!" as the gang approached the Tower. Off in the distance, on a small platform, was a sort of glowing bubble. The gang rushed over to the edge of the path and looked out across to where the bubble was. Jacob looked at it curiously, but it was Aelita who spoke.

"It's a simulation bubble," she explained. "Daddy must be using it to hide from XANA," she added as Jeremy spoke again.

"_I agree. His signal was so weak that until I tweaked the SuperScan even from what Jacob had done with it, we couldn't pinpoint it._"

"How do you propose we get to it, Einstein?" Odd asked.

"Yeah, it's on a platform in the middle of nowhere," Ulrich added. "Nothing around it but the Digital Sea."

"Allow me," Aelita offered as she moved them out of the way and got down on her knees. She closed her eyes and began to sing. A moment later, amid the chorus of voices ringing around them, the gang saw a matrix of lines beginning to web its way towards the path they were on. It reached them, and began solidifying until it had formed a bridge between them and the platform. Once the bridge was complete, Aelita got up and looked at the others. "I have to go. He may not trust anyone else," she added as she slowly began walking down the bridge towards the dome. When she finally reached the platform, she reached out, and placed her hand on the shimmering surface of the bubble. It flashed where she touched it, and when she reached out to touch it again, her hand passed through, leaving ripples as if she were entering a Tower. Seeing this, Aelita took a step forward, and passed through into the bubble…

Aelita then appeared inside the bubble, and she looked around in surprise as she took in her surroundings. The area she found herself in was a dark, dimly-lit room that extended far beyond her head. She looked around, and saw a Lift in front of her, identical to the Lift in the Factory. She stepped into it, and pressed a few keys on the keypad. Suddenly, the Lift began to whir, and the door closed behind her. She felt herself begin to sink lower, and when the lift stopped, the door whirred open in a cloud of steam. When the steam cleared, Aelita looked out to see almost a carbon-copy of the Laboratory, and a gray-haired man in a lab coat sitting at the computer screen…

"Daddy…?" she breathed.

Meanwhile, on Lyoko…

"Guys, look out!" Jacob yelled as he shoved them out of the way of the elliptical blast from a Megatank. When the five Warriors turned to face it, they saw a barricade of monsters: Hornets, Tarantulas, Megatanks, Bloks, Krabes; they were completely boxed in!

"Oh boy," William groaned as the five of them tensed up, ready for action.

"Ready?" Ulrich asked aloud.

"On three," Yumi replied.

"One…" Odd said.

"Two," William added.

"THREE!" Jacob yelled as the five of them charged the small army that XANA had created…

Inside the bubble…

"Daddy?" Aelita whispered as she stepped into the Lab. The gray-haired man at the computer turned when he heard her voice, revealing himself to be Franz Hopper. He looked fondly at Aelita from behind his glasses, and stood up as she raced over and wrapped her arms around him.

"Aelita, darling, what are you doing here?" he asked as she cried into his lab coat.

"I came to find you," she sniffled as she looked up at him. "I want you to come home."

"My dear, you've done well to find me here," he said enigmatically as he sat back down and turned to face the computer screen again. "But I cannot leave yet. There is more I have to do."

"Why? Why can't you come, Daddy? And how did you survive?" she asked. "We all thought you sacrificed yourself to power the multi-agent system…"

"All questions for another time," he said simply, waving his hand to indicate that she should not question him further. "But, I need a favor of you, my dear," he continued.

"Anything, Daddy," Aelita said quickly as Franz got up and came over to her.

"Stay here," he said with the faintest hint of a growl in his voice. "I'll need your help to finish my plans before I can return."

"But, Daddy, I can't," Aelita replied sorrowfully. "I have to be at Kadic, otherwise…"

"My dear, that doesn't matter now…" Hopper snarled; a distorted undertone in his voice as he grabbed Aelita by the throat and hoisted her off the ground. His eyes were distorted now, and they flickered away until only the Eye of XANA was left. "_You're staying so I can dispose of you!_" the Hopper look-alike growled evilly. "_Ungh!_" it growled as Aelita lashed out a kick that caused him to drop to his knees. She ran for the lift and slipped in just before the doors closed. XANA-Hopper growled and evaporated into a cloud of smoke as it headed for the entrance…

Aelita quickly sprinted out of the lift and ran for the entrance of the Factory, but she gasped as she heard the footsteps of the Hopper clone behind her. She kept running until she reached the entrance, and stopped as she touched the transparent barrier. She laid her hand on it as the Hopper clone swung at her, and just as she would have been knocked off her feet, she managed to pass through the surface of the bubble…

"Oof!" she grunted as she hit the platform. She turned to see the bubble behind her. It was flickering madly and began to glow brighter until a beam of light erupted from it and shot upward, and it radiated outward, shattering the simulation bubble. Aelita watched this until Jeremy shouted over the com-link:

"_Aelita! It was a trap! The others need help fast!_" Aelita heard this and turned with a start to see the army of monsters getting the best of the gang. She ran over to the other end of the bridge she had created, and dropped to her knees. She began to sing, and willed the ground beneath each monster to vanish. A moment later, sporadic holes opened in the Ice Sector's surface below each monster, and all of them dropped into the Digital Sea. Once the beams of light confirmed impact, Aelita resealed the gaps and got up as Jacob ran over to her.

"Aelita, are you okay?" he asked as she was shaking slightly. She shook her head before looking at him.

"It was a trap…it was all a trap…" she mumbled…

The next morning, the gang gathered in the cafeteria, but Aelita was nowhere to be found…

"Morning, all!" Jacob said in a half-cheery, half-dejected voice as he sat down.

"Morning…" they replied as Jeremy pointedly avoided Jacob's gaze. Jacob caught on to this, and after a few moments of an awkward silence, he spoke.

"Look, I get that you guys are mad at me, but I had no way of knowing that XANA would lure us into a trap!" he hissed as Jeremy whirled around and spoke for the first time.

"No, but it was _your_ idea; _your_ plan! As far as I'm concerned it's your fault that we almost lost everything!" he shot back in an angry growl. Hurt immediately showed in Jacob's face, and he got up, tears blossoming in his eyes as he struggled to contain his emotions.

"Fine!" he screamed, causing the entire cafeteria to hush and look his way. "If you feel that way, then you've got no one to blame but yourselves! You all are more insensitive jerks than I thought! I'm done!" he screeched as he lashed around and ran out of the cafeteria. A worried Ulrich tried to get up and follow him, but Yumi stopped him and whispered in his ear.

"Let him calm down," she soothed. "We'll go talk to him soon; without Jeremy," she added as Einstein muttered, "Let him go…" under his breath.

Meanwhile, Aelita was in her room, and she screamed as she woke up from the nightmares. She still couldn't believe that XANA had tricked her again! She was beginning to lose hope… Maybe her father was gone… No! She refused to believe that!

"I have to get some answers…" she murmured as she threw on some clothes and snuck out. She made her way for the Gym's boiler room and headed for the sewers…

Once she arrived at the Factory, Aelita made her way quickly to the Lab. She punched in the protocols for the automatic virtualization procedure and ran to the Scanners. She slipped through the doors and let the light envelop her as she virtualized…

"I can't believe they're that shallow!" Jacob hissed under his breath as he made his way back to his room. He opened the door and slammed it behind himself as he walked over to his computer. He started to open it, but thought otherwise as he instead took it with him and walked out of his room towards the dorm stairs. He made his way up to the girls' floor and walked down the hall towards Aelita's room. He knocked, and waited a moment before saying anything.

"Aelita? Aelita, it's Jacob," he sighed. "I—I need to apologize…" he whispered as he twisted the door handle. To his surprise, it opened, and he looked around to find that Aelita wasn't there! "Oh, no…" he whispered as he ran out, knowing the only place she would have gone…

"Yumi, are you sure this is a good idea?" Ulrich whispered as she stopped in front of Jacob's door.

"I'm sure," she replied. "He needs to know that we don't agree with Jeremy," she added as she twisted the door handle and opened the door. She looked around in shock as she realized, "He's not here…"

"Ulrich!" Odd called as he ran over to where Ulrich was standing in the hall. "Have you seen Aelita? I went to find her, but she's not in her room," he added.

"Jacob's not here either," Yumi replied. "You don't think…?"

"I'll get William and Jeremy," Odd said quickly. "You two go on to the Factory. See if you can catch up with them…" Odd added as he ran off. "_This is not good…_" he was thinking to himself…

Meanwhile, on Lyoko, Aelita was sitting in one of the rooms in the Core Zone of Sector Five thinking about everything that had happened. She didn't want to fight XANA any more… She didn't want to deal with life on Earth anymore… She just wanted a way out!

"Ahh!" she yelped when a laser impacted the ground right next to her arm. She jumped up and saw a group of Creepers slithering on the walls, coming towards her. "Energy Field!" she yelled as she fired one at the monsters and turned around to run…

Once Jacob arrived at the Factory, he made his way quickly to the Lift entrance and pressed the button for the Lab entrance as he got in. The elevator whirred, and a few moments later, he got off as the doors opened, and walked into the Lab. He ran over to the computer and quickly scanned the Supercomputer logs to find…

"Aelita's gone to Lyoko! On her own!" He quickly fired up the Holomap and looked for a visual, anything that could tell him where she was. He finally found his answer in Sector Five, and he pulled up the radar to find that she was being ambushed by XANA's monsters in the Core Zone! He immediately started up the automatic virtualization procedure, and whispered, "I'm coming, Princess," as he slipped into the Scanner and virtualized himself onto Lyoko…

He appeared in the Arena, and landed on his feet as he sprinted through the corridor and into the Core Zone. He quickly traversed the first maze and was climbing towards the next corridor when a laser hit his arm and he growled, tucking it close to him as he whipped around.

"Energy Field!" he cried as he fired it at the Creeper that had attacked him. It yelped when the orb hit it, and it was encased in a field of purple light before exploding. Jacob looked at the scene in grim satisfaction before racing into the next corridor…

"I can't believe we're doing this!" Jeremy growled as he and the others swung down to the Lift entrance.

"Well, your girlfriend and our friend are in danger!" Ulrich shot back. "We're rescuing them!" he hissed as Jeremy opened his mouth to object, and then thought better of it when Yumi and William glared at him. "_Maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to blame Jacob…_" Jeremy thought to himself. "_After all, he couldn't have known any more than we did… Oh, I'm such an idiot!_" he screamed to himself as he raced ahead of the others and opened the Lift.

"You guys are right; I am an idiot!" Jeremy said as they joined him. "We've got to hurry…" he added quietly as the Lift stopped and the doors opened to the Lab…

Jacob sprinted now as he could see the entrance to the largest room in the Core Zone, and he could see the red flashes of lasers being fired even from the distance… He knew Aelita needed him, and fast…

"Ungh!" Aelita yelped as a Manta hit her in the chest with a laser. She backed up now, until her hand gripped the edge of the ground, and as she looked over her shoulder to see the Data Barrier beneath her, she realized she could retreat no further…

Back in the Lab, Jeremy sprinted for the computer as the others gathered around him. His fingers flew over the keys as he tried to find them, until…

"They're in Sector Five!" he gasped in fear as he slipped on the headset. "Jacob, can you hear me?"

Jacob could see Aelita now, and he only had to get to the end of the corridor before he could get a shot off when he heard a voice in his ear…

"_Jacob, can you hear me?_" he heard Jeremy ask as he continued to sprint down the corridor. He had to make it!

Aelita looked up, and then out of the corner of her eye, she saw a movement in the entrance to the corridor nearest her, and she saw Jacob sprint in just as the Manta fired at her one last time…

"AELITA!" Jacob screeched as the laser hit her in the chest and knocked her off the side.

"Jacob…I'm sorry…" she said sadly before she disappeared from his view…

Jeremy and the others looked in horror at what was happening, and Jeremy's fist shook as he clenched it, pounding it on the desk as he realized there was nothing he could do…

"NO!" Jacob screamed as he ran to the edge of the floor and tried to fire an Energy Field off in time…

"No…" Jeremy whispered as tears began to stream down his and the gang's faces…

But it was too late as Jacob watched his energy orb hit empty space, and his throat closed up as he dropped to his knees and retched when he saw the beam of light shoot up from below…

"NOOOOOO!" he screeched in unimaginable fury and pain as he felt nothing but absolute fury pulse through his veins. He got up and wheeled around as he closed his eyes, and when they reopened, they were glowing as white as snow…

To be continued…


	11. Episode 106:  Apocalypse, Part II

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko! Moonscoop does!**

**Episode 106: Apocalypse, Part II**

"NOOOOOO!" he screeched in unimaginable fury and pain as he felt nothing but absolute fury pulse through his veins. He got up and wheeled around as he closed his eyes, and when they reopened, they were glowing as white as snow…

"_You'll pay for what you've done, XANA!_" he screamed in a distorted voice that was not his own as his body became engulfed in a blinding white aura. Waves of energy began to pulse out from his chest, and suddenly, a crystal-like shape rose out of it…

Back in the Lab, Jeremy's screens started to blip wildly as alert messages flooded the screens. He moved most of them out of the way, and tried to focus in on the scan of Jacob that was on his screen.

"Unbelieveable…" he whispered. "There's an energy source the likes of which I've never seen inside of him…" he muttered, pointing at the blinking crystal-shaped image on his screen. The group just started in shock at it as they watched what was beginning to happen…

Shock waves of energy continued to pulsate from Jacob's body as the crystal sunk back into his chest. He raised a hand, and instantly, a massive beam of white energy blasted from it, engulfing XANA's monsters completely in a blinding glare. When the beam subsided, they were gone, not a trace left…

"That crystal, or whatever it is, has magnified Jacob's powers far beyond what they ever were before!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Wait, what? What's going on?" he asked suddenly…

…as on Lyoko, Jacob began to levitate in the air. He floated out of the room where Aelita had been lost and made his way through each room of the Core Zone, passing through walls and blocks as he encountered them until he came to the edge of the Core Zone. He lifted his hand to summon the elevator down to him, and a moment later, the Elevator dropped down, leaving a trail of sparks behind it as it skidded to a stop. Jacob drifted on to it, and let his feet touch the ground as the Elevator shot downward towards the South Pole of Sector Five…

"What is he doing?" Jeremy asked impatiently as the gang watched all of this unfold on his screen. "I don't get it…"

The Elevator reached its destination, and Jacob jumped off of it, levitating towards the opening at the southernmost point of Sector Five. He floated up inside of it, and landed on the ground in front of a Key switch. He pressed it, and it depressed into the wall, opening the doorway to…

"He's headed for the Core…" Jeremy breathed. "I think he's lost control of his abilities! We have to stop him! Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, William, head for the Scanners! You have to go back in and stop him!" Jeremy exclaimed as the four of them ran for the Lift…

Jacob, meanwhile; began to float upward along the spiral staircase until he reached the bridge leading out to the platform where the Core was located. He floated along it until he reached the Core, and laid his hand on the first shield layer, disintegrating it with one touch.

"The first shield layer's gone!" Jeremy screeched. "I'm starting the—oh, shoot; he's blocked virtualization directly to Sector Five!" Jeremy hissed. "You'll have to take the Transport Orb!" he said as the gang reached the Scanners. "I'm starting the procedure!"

Transfer Odd, Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Yumi.

Scanner Odd, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Yumi!

Virtualization!

Transfer William.

Scanner William.

Virtualization!

Moments later, the gang appeared in the Forest Sector, and as soon as they hit the ground, they took off towards the edge of the Sector. None of XANA's monsters arose to challenge them, as he was busy in Sector Five, but, all of a sudden…

In Sector Five, Jacob had already done away with the second shield layer, and he reached out to the Core itself, placing his hand on it. The effect was indescribable. A massive wind blasted into him, and Sector Five began to fade around him. The lights began to wink out as the walls of the orb itself began to crumble… All of Lyoko shook as this happened, and when the shaking stopped, all that could be seen in Sector Five was the walls of binary code and the data tunnels…the actual sphere that encased the Core Zone, Core, Skid Dock, and everything else that made up Sector Five was gone. Floating in the middle of this hollow, blue-lit data sphere, however; was Jacob. His appearance still looked the same, but his eyes were still those snow-white orbs of light, and he turned to look at all four data tunnels before raising both of his hands and letting out a distorted scream that could be heard all throughout Lyoko…

"What was that?" William asked as the tremors finally subsided and the four of them stopped cold.

"It was Jacob," Ulrich realized, recognizing his cry. "Jeremy, we've reached the edge of the Sector, can you give us a ride?" he asked; the gang now standing at the end of the path.

"I'll try, but it's going to be tough," Jeremy answered. "Jacob's managed to totally wipe out Sector Five. The Arena, Core Zone, everything's gone!"

"How is that possible?" Yumi asked. "If Sector Five is gone, shouldn't Lyoko be gone with it?"

"It should be, unless…" Jeremy trailed off. "Jacob absorbed the Core's programming into his body! He's maintaining Lyoko on his own!"

"Is that even possible?" Ulrich asked.

"I didn't think so…but…anyways, you're going to have to devirtualize him! It's the only way to save him!"

"We've already lost Aelita…we can't lose anyone else…" Odd agreed.

Jacob, meanwhile; turned and focused on the data tunnel leading to the Ice Sector. He let out a cry, and raised his hand as he charged a massive fireball in his hand. His eyes glowed brighter as he blasted a massive stream of fire into the data tunnel…

In the Ice Sector, the stream of fiery energy blasted from Sector Five and began to rain down on the Sector. Wherever it hit, steam rose from the points of impact, and the Sector literally began to fragment and melt away as the firestorm rained down on it…

On Jeremy's screen, an alert message popped up as the Ice Sector began to disintegrate…

"This can't be happening…" he whispered…

Jacob turned next to the tunnel leading to the Desert Sector, and charged a massive sphere of white energy in his hands. He fired it into the tunnel as his eyes again glowed brighter…

In the Desert Sector, the blast of energy surged out of Sector Five and impacted the edge of the Sector, causing it to literally erode away. The sandy cliffs began to dissolve as the blast pushed further into the Sector…

Another alert message popped up on Jeremy's screens as the Desert Sector began to disappear. He watched in horror now as Jacob turned to the third data tunnel. His eyes glowed brighter again, and he whirled his fingers around as he charged a blast of electricity and fired it into the tunnel leading to the Mountain Sector…

In the Mountain Sector, sinister thunderclouds now hovered in the sky above the Sector, and they began to rain down massive, golden thunderbolts, impacting the crags and breaking them apart. As the crags splintered, they too began to fragment and dissolve…

Jacob now turned to the last data tunnel, this one of course leading to the Forest Sector. He let out another screech as he blasted another fire wave into the tunnel…

Just then, the gang looked up and saw the rain of fire begin to head for the trees…

"He's going to destroy the Sector, Einstein; do something!" Odd cried.

"Okay!" Jeremy instantly replied. I'm typing in the code: SCIPIO."

The Transport Orb then arose from the depths of the Forest Sector and opened, enclosing the gang as it took off towards the layers of data screens that symbolized the entrance to Sector Five, or what was left of it. As it moved away, the firestorm just like the one that hit the Ice Sector rained on the trees and caused them to burn. Virtual smoke cloaked the area as the ground began to fragment and dissolve…

When the Transport Orb appeared through the data walls, Jeremy was ready, and when the Orb released the gang, Jeremy already had the Overboard, Overbike, Overwing, and Overdisc hovering below them, and their screams stopped as they fell and landed on their vehicles safely…

"Jeremy, what's happening?" William asked as the data walls began to flicker.

"Jacob's started a virtual meltdown!" Jeremy replied fearfully, his voice shaking. "He's destroying all four Sectors. Once that happens, he'll release the energy that's stored in that crystal…and…"

"It'll wipe out what little is left of Lyoko…" Ulrich finished.

"Yes," Jeremy confirmed. "The data sphere that you are in now is all that's left of Sector Five. As soon as that goes, the Digital Sea will flood the empty space and cause Lyoko's outer shell to collapse in on itself. Lyoko will be destroyed and you all with it… Jacob's lost all control over his powers now. You have to stop him at all costs! I don't know what will happen once he's devirtualized, but…"

"It's our only chance…" Yumi whispered as Jacob finally noticed the four of them below him. He looked at them with those blank, glowing eyes, and let out a fierce cry as he swooped down to meet them…

"Well, I guess this is it…" Odd sighed. "Bonzai!" he yelled as he flew towards Jacob. "Laser Arrow!" he yelled as he shot a volley of arrows towards Jacob, who flew out of the way to avoid them. He then screeched as he charged an Energy Field at Odd, who barely avoided it before circling around behind him…

"I hate to have to do this, buddy, but…" He never got a chance to finish his sentence as Jacob whirled around and fired a lightning bolt which hit Odd square in the chest. Odd moaned as he flew backwards and fragmented, devirtualizing instantly…

"Odd!" Jeremy yelled as Odd reappeared in the Scanner Room below. "He's been sent back here, thank goodness! Do something, quick!" he yelled to Yumi, Ulrich and William.

"We're on it, Einstein," Ulrich replied as he flew towards Jacob on his Overbike. He drew his sabres, and Jacob turned to him, summoning his purple sword in an instant and parrying the blow Ulrich tried to land on him. Ulrich swerved back and prepared to get another blow at him, but in that instant, Jacob was gone…  
"What? Where'd he—unh…" Ulrich moaned as he saw the tip of a purple blade punch out of his stomach, and he devirtualized, whispering, "I tried my best…"

"Ulrich's down too! Yumi, William—"

"We know, Jeremy," Yumi replied shortly, cutting him off as she glanced at William. "Double team?" she asked.

"Let's do it," William replied as he and Yumi flew around, William to Jacob's front and Yumi to Jacob's back. Jacob growled as he turned to see both of them, and he decided to focus on William, who charged him with his Zweihander. "Yahh!" he yelled as he swung the massive blade at Jacob's head, but he grunted when he felt something impact his stomach, and he saw purple sparks in his eyes as he realized he had been hit by an Energy Field. He smiled, though, as he devirtualized, because with his distraction, Yumi had managed to get right to Jacob's back, and when he whirled around in shock to see Yumi in front of him, she shot both her hands out and placed her fingers on his temples.

"Remember!" she whispered in his ear as she began to glow with a pinkish aura. She used her psychic abilities to transmit memories into Jacob's head…

—_Flashback—_

"_You saved me," Aelita smiled as she kissed Jacob softly on the cheek. He blushed deeply, and she laughed._

"_Welcome to the club, Jake!" Jeremy exclaimed cheerfully as Jacob smiled and thought to himself, "I belong somewhere now…"_

"_I won't let you hurt him!" Odd yelled as he tackled the XANA-possessed nurse. Jacob looked at the scene as he pressed back into the corner of his room and realized he had friends who would protect him at any cost…_

"_Look out," Jacob said as Aelita and Ulrich stepped back. He charged energy around his fingertips, and blasted a bolt of electricity from them, wiping out XANA's Krabe army…_

"_Ow!" Odd yelped as Jacob rolled over and laughed. "These things are supposed to catch mice, not cats!"_

"_That's what you get for messing with me, Odd," Jacob grinned…_

"_They saved me…" Jacob whispered as he sat in the Scanner, remembering that XANA had used the Scyphozoa to possess him…_

"_You did it!" Yumi grinned as Jacob sat back in the chair facing the computer. He had done it! He had gotten them safely to Lyoko on his own!_

"_Okay, now it's your job to find the Tower!"_

"_It worked!" Jacob crowed as the Sectors were repaired and the holes began to vanish…_

"_Run!" he screamed to his friends as he turned to face his enemy…_

"_I won't leave you!" Aelita yelled as she took the laser blasts intended for Jacob and devirtualized…_

"_We'll always be here for you, Jake…" Jeremy smiled as the gang circled around him and gave him a huge group-hug…_

—_End Flashback—_

"Ungh…" Jacob moaned as all the memories pierced his consciousness. All of a sudden, the glow began to fade from his eyes and the white aura faded from around him. Jeremy watched from his screen as an alert popped up, but this would prove to be good news as the central structure of Sector Five reformed. The gray orb began to reappear, and once it was safe to land, Yumi and Jacob slowly floated down into the Core Zone until they landed safely on a platform. Yumi looked into Jacob's eyes, and the last of the glow faded as his eyes returned to normal. He moaned something inaudible before swaying and passing out in Yumi's arms. She held him there for a few moments before speaking aloud:

"Jeremy, I think I've got him back. How's the rest of everything look?"

Jeremy scanned everything before replying. "The meltdown in the other Sectors seems to have stopped! Yumi, you did it!" he grinned as Yumi sighed in relief.

"Can we come home now?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied. "I'm bringing you both in now…" he said as they began to disappear in a yellow column of light…

In the Scanner Room, Yumi's tube was the first to open, and she moaned as she stepped shakily out of the Scanner. Ulrich and William steadied her as all of them gathered nervously around the Scanner before it opened in a hiss…

…and in the cloud of steam, slumped against the side of the Scanner, was Jacob. His eyes were closed, and he moaned softly before slumping out of the Scanner, and Odd caught him before he could hit the ground. He breathed softly for a moment before his eyes flickered open and he murmured:

"I'm sorry…"

In the Laboratory…

"I tried everything I could to get there in time, Jeremy…" Jacob sighed as he sat against the wall. "I just wonder—if I had gotten there a few seconds earlier—if I had been a little faster—if maybe…"

"I don't think there was anything you could have done, Jacob…" Jeremy sighed resignedly. "I don't think any of us could have saved her…" he whispered in a choked voice as a tear dripped down his face.

"So, what do we do now?" Odd asked, voicing the question that none of them had wanted to face. Yumi and Ulrich just looked blankly at him, and Jeremy sighed, shuddering as he faced the fact that after all the time they had gone with a perfect record, they had finally lost someone. Suddenly, they were all startled by a beeping from the computer screen…

In Sector Five, a bright light suddenly shot up from the Data Barrier as a glowing orb of light rose from below…

Jeremy ran to the computer and checked the screen, and when he pulled up the radar scan, he looked at it with trembling hands as he stared in disbelief…

"It's not possible…" he whispered in utter shock…

The orb of light rose until it was level with the floor of the Core Zone, and floated over to the floor. It flashed one time before releasing something from within it…

"It's Aelita!" Jacob exclaimed in amazement.

The pinkette lay unmoving on the ground as the orb floated away. It hesitated for just a moment before descending back into the depths of the Digital Sea…

"But how?" Ulrich asked in disbelief as Jeremy laid his head in his hands and cried for the second time that day.

"It was…her father…" he whispered, admitting to himself that the impossible had happened. "Somehow, he survived…again…"

On Lyoko, Aelita was still unmoving, but she thought she heard a voice in her head say, "_I love you, my dear…_" before she felt herself become lighter…

"I'm bringing her in!" Jeremy exclaimed in joy. "To the Scanner Room, quick!"

In the Scanner Room, the entire gang, Jacob included, huddled around the metal tube, waiting for it to open, and when it finally did, in the cloud of smoke lay Aelita, huddled in the floor of the Scanner. She moaned softly before collapsing out of the door of the Scanner, and Jacob and Jeremy caught her, Jeremy holding her in his arms as she fluttered her eyes and they finally opened. She looked at Jeremy, and then to Jacob; and after a few moments she tried to speak, but Jeremy stopped her as he hugged her close to him.

"It's all right now; you're safe," he sobbed as everyone in the room began to cry…

Once Aelita had finally recovered, the entire gang was in the Lab…

"Aelita, I'm sorry…" Jacob muttered as he looked at his feet. "I just didn't get there fast enou—" he was cut off when Aelita laid a finger over his mouth and shushed him.

"It's okay. All that matters now is that we're all here," she whispered as she hugged him. Once she finally released him from her grip, Jacob turned to Jeremy.

"How's Lyoko, Einstein?" he asked quietly. "I'm sorry that I lost control…" he trailed off.

"I'm working on repairing it. It'll recover. But like Aelita said, all that matters is that we have both of you back with us." At that, Jacob smiled, and turned to Yumi.

"Yumi, the whole time, I could sense all of your guys' love for me…it just shot through my anger. So I want to tell you…thank you for saving me…" he trailed off again as Yumi came over to him.

"You would have done the same for any of us…" she whispered in his ear before she kissed him gently on the cheek, making him blush slightly as Odd yawned.

"I'm getting tired of all this mushy stuff!" he grinned. "Someone say something funny already before I die of boredom!"

"My father's alive after all…" Aelita whispered. "I can't believe it…"

"Neither can we…" Jeremy added as Odd groaned.

"Okay, excuse me while I die of boredom!" Odd laughed. "Hey," he continued, "Since everyone's safe, let's go out and celebrate!"

"Yeah!" the entire gang cheered as they got on the Lift and prepared to celebrate the rescue of their comrades…

Meanwhile; in the depths of The World Network…

"_The boy has more power than he realizes…_" a voice crackled from the center of a shadowy cloud. "_Soon, I will stop him!_" the voice growled as a pair of glowing red eyes pierced through the smoke…

LW94: Okay, so Lyoko's saved, Aelita and Jacob are safe, and the gang's all together again! Happy ending, right? Maybe for now… Of course, that also asks the question, what will XANA plot next? Stay tuned to find out! Of course, the only way for you to find out and see more is if you READ AND REVIEW! So do it! Or else! Haha!


	12. Episode 107:  Brains Over Brawn

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko! Moonscoop does!**

**Episode 107: Brains over Brawn**

The morning after the near-catastrophe on Lyoko, Jeremy had dragged an unwilling Jacob back to the Factory. He needed to run some more tests to determine how much, if any, of a risk it was to let Jacob back on Lyoko.

"Ow, ow, ow! Jeremy! Do we have to do this now?" Jacob complained as Jeremy dragged him by the wrist to the Lift entrance.

"Yes!" Jeremy replied. "We need to do it now and not find out later if there's another XANA attack!" he scolded as he punched a few buttons on the keypad and the door closed. When it reopened, Jacob could see the Lab, and Jeremy got off, instructing him, "Okay, now go down to the Scanner Room and get in. I'm going to run a full test to make sure everything checks out before I send you back onto Lyoko." Jacob sullenly did as he was told, grumbling about having to get up so early, as the door to the Lift closed. Jeremy just laughed and walked over to the Computer, firing everything up as he sat down and slipped on his headset. He shuddered when he thought about the last time he was here. He had nearly lost Jacob and Aelita… Oh well, he couldn't think about that now, could he? Jeremy muttered something to himself that must have been picked up by the microphone, because he heard Jacob say in his ear, "_You're muttering again, Einstein!_"

"Oh, sorry!" Jeremy replied sheepishly. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"Unfortunately…" Jacob grumbled as he got into the Scanner. Jeremy then started up the Scanner, and Jacob levitated in the Scanner tube as the circular bar of light scanned him through the computer again. When his profile popped up on screen, Jeremy scanned over everything quickly.

"Well, everything seems to be normal…" he mumbled as he began to look over Jacob's physical scan. When his eyes reached the chest area, Jeremy saw a blinking red object, and when he scanned it further, he determined it to be an extremely powerful energy source. He looked over its attributes quickly, and then stopped the scan, opening the Scanner doors after a moment and allowing Jacob to walk out. Jacob went back to the Lift and came up quickly to the Computer Lab.

"So, what's the verdict, Einstein?" Jacob asked as he got off the Lift and walked over to the computer. Jeremy turned to face him, and sighed slightly before replying.

"Well, you won't like it, but it's for the best…" he answered. "That crystal that is in your Lyoko form…"

"The one that made my powers go all haywire?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah; that's the one," Jeremy nodded. "Until I can find a way to stabilize it so that you can control your powers without another incident happening again…" Jeremy paused before letting the pin drop. "I don't think it's safe for you to go back on Lyoko," he finished. Jacob just stared at him for a few moments, and just when Jeremy thought he might go off on him, he saw Jacob nodding slowly.

"You're right; though I don't like to admit it…" he trailed off. "I don't want to be a risk to the others. The only catch is; I don't even know how I accessed the power in the crystal in the first place!" he grumbled, thinking aloud.

"We'll figure it out," Jeremy told him reassuringly. "I don't know how you did it either, but we'll crack the mystery and get you back on Lyoko," he grinned as Jacob finally nodded in agreement and the two of them headed back to Kadic as the sun began to creep up…

When they got back, they were just in time for the cafeteria to open, and they got in and took advantage of an empty line to get their food undeterred. By the time the others made it down, the two of them had almost finished eating their breakfasts, and Jacob smiled as the others sat down at their table.

"Morning, geniuses!" Odd grinned cheerily as he reached over and ruffled Jacob's already unruly hair. "So, what's the verdict?" he asked, and Jacob looked at Jeremy sheepishly before replying.

"You'll be fighting without me for a while," Jacob replied a little glumly. "Jeremy said that until he can get my powers under control, it will be better to keep me off Lyoko. I'm not a flight risk that way," he laughed as Aelita laid a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be okay," she said cheerily. "You'll just help Jeremy fight on this end for a while, that's all! A little change of roles," she smiled.

"Yup!" Jacob agreed as Sissi came up to their table. "Oh, boy…" he muttered under his breath as she came up and laid a hand on the table. "What can we do for you today, Sissi?" he asked plainly as the others snickered under their breath.

"Oh, quiet, you losers!" she shot back. "One of these days…" she growled, trailing off. "Actually, it's you I wanted to talk to, Jacob," she said, her face displaying the slightest twinge of embarrassment as Jacob looked at her in surprise.

"Uh…okay, sure…" he stuttered, not quite sure what to make of this as Sissi dragged him outside. Once the two were gone, Ulrich leaned in and whispered, "What was that?"

"Uh…" Yumi muttered in shock.

"I'm…not…sure…" William finally spat out.

"Sissi; being nice?" Odd scoffed. "Maybe it's a XANA trick!" he offered helpfully. "Sissi actually being nice is not possible, I think…" he said as Jacob hurriedly came back in and sat down at the table. He looked a little flushed and flustered, and he stared off into space for a few moments before looking at the group again, who were staring at him curiously.

"What was that about?" Jeremy asked quizzically.

"I—I'll tell you later," Jacob mumbled, not wanting to divulge the conversation he had had just yet. This day was getting really, _really_ weird…

Morning classes went by without major incident, and during lunch break, Jacob quickly grabbed his lunch from the cafeteria and took it back up to his room. He pulled up the Lyoko interface on his laptop and began to go to work on a few things. He was busy trying to piece some of the Skid programming back together when William opened the door. Jacob turned with a start, and relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Hey, bud, you mind if I come in?" he asked.

"Well, you did just let yourself in…" Jacob replied sarcastically, and then smiled. "Sure, I don't mind," he laughed as William sat down in the chair next to him. "You don't have class this afternoon?" he asked when he realized what time it was.

"Well, we did, but a fuse blew out in the Foreign History classroom, and my class got cancelled for the afternoon. I kinda figured you'd be up here…" he trailed off.

"And why's that?" Jacob asked.

"Because it's how you can make yourself feel useful right now. The rest of us can go on Lyoko, but you're stuck…" He stopped when Jacob let out a huge sigh, and he worried that he had said something wrong until Jacob's eyes glittered and he punched William playfully in the shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay; I don't feel bad about it!" Jacob laughed. "I'll help where I'm needed, and when things are fixed, I'll hit Lyoko running again. It's not that difficult for me to get used to…" he grinned.

"That's good! Way to look on the bright side of things!" William smiled as he began to look at what Jacob was working on. "What you got going?" he asked as Jacob punched a few more keys.

"Hopefully, some modifications to the virtualization program to speed up the process, and I've been tinkering with the Skid a bit, but unfortunately, I _really_ fried it!" he laughed. "It's gonna be a while before it's back to working order."

"Well, sometimes that's the price you pay," William smiled.

"Yeah," Jacob agreed as he heard the bell ring outside. "Whoops, that's my bell; I'd better get down to Math! I don't want Mr. and Mrs. Einstein showing me up!" he grinned as he and William walked out. Jacob said good-bye, and ran off, while William stood there thinking that there was still some more regret there than Jacob was willing to let on to…

After school, the gang met at the crossroads in front of the school, and Odd was laughing at the fact that Jacob had outscored both Jeremy and the pinkette on the test. Granted, he got a 100 and they both got 99s, but… Anyways, the gang stood chatting when Yumi and Ulrich ran up to meet them.

"Sorry we're late!" Yumi panted as she tried to catch her breath. "Jim wouldn't shut up after swim practice!" she chuckled as Aelita smiled warmly and laughed.

"Well, now that we're all here, what do you propose we do this afternoon?" she asked, looking at each member of the group individually. They mulled it over, and then Odd raised his hand and jumped up and down until Aelita said, "What is it, Odd?"

"Let's go see a movie!" he said enthusiastically. "We can go see _Rise of the Zombies III_! Then, we'd all laugh and scream in 90 minutes time!" Aelita at first looked skeptical, but when she saw the others were smiling, she brightened up.

"You're right! We haven't seen a flick in a while; much less gone out and actually all spent a day together! Let's do it!" she grinned. She turned to look at Jeremy, who looked a little down, and said, "What's wrong, Jeremy?"

"Well, I don't mean to be a party crasher, but I've got something for Advanced Computer Science that I have to finish before tomorrow. But, I don't mind if you guys go without me," he added cheerily.

"Are you sure, Jeremy?" Ulrich asked. "I think even you need some time off," he advised.

"I'm sure. You guys go; I'll be fine here," he smiled as Aelita gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Yumi and Ulrich walked towards the gates, hands intertwined, and the other three followed close behind. Jeremy, though, smiled as he watched them go, and turned to head back to the dorms. When he got up to his room, he stopped and listened for a moment, hearing a rapid clacking from Jacob's room. He walked down a door and knocked, hearing a muffled, "Come in." He twisted the handle and walked in, seeing Jacob staring intently at his laptop as he worked on something in the Supercomputer. Jeremy walked over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his stupor.

"Wha—oh, hey, Einstein," Jacob said as his eyes adjusted. Jeremy just shook his head before he spoke.

"I thought I might find you up here," he said quietly. "Just because you can't fight right now; doesn't mean you're any less important to us or any less a member of the group!" At that, Jacob stopped, and stared for a moment before finally saying what Jeremy had hoped he would…

"I've been waiting for someone to tell me that…" he whispered as Jeremy just laughed and sat down next to him.

"Listen: this is just a setback. You'll get through it," Jeremy reassured him. "And we'll all be here with you," he smiled.

Meanwhile, on Lyoko, everything was quiet until a Tower in the Forest Sector began to glow red…

The two boys were instantly distracted by a beeping from Jacob's laptop. He quickly scanned through the windows until he came to the one he had half-expected to find…

"XANA's attacking…" he said simply.

Meanwhile, at the theater…

"If we hurry, we'll make it before we miss the previews!" Odd grinned as he was distracted by a sudden squeaking behind him. The gang turned to see a bunch of life-size promotional movie toys, moving of their own accord, surrounding the perimeter of the entire building! At the doors were two giant, animatronic T-Rexes, and they guarded the way, snapping their large jaws at anything that came near them. Some frightened moviegoers screamed, and Aelita immediately pulled out her phone.

"It must be XANA," she hissed as it rang in her hand. She answered it instantly, knowing who would be on the other end. "Jeremy?" she asked redundantly.

"_Aelita? XANA's launched an attack! Get to the Factory as fast as possible!_"

"Jeremy, I don't think that's going to be an option…" she replied, glancing at the robotic dinos guarding the exit.

"_What? What do we do, then?_" he asked, suddenly realizing the answer. "_Oh, no…no, no, no! Not happening!_" he argued as Aelita and the others backed into a corner to try and come up with a plan.

"Do you have a better plan?" she argued as she hung up on him. A dejected Jeremy turned to Jacob, who confirmed his fears at once…

"They can't come?" he asked. Jeremy shook his head. "And sending me isn't an option," he muttered. "Well, then, Einstein, I guess it's up to you," he finished simply as Jeremy groaned…

When the two brainiacs got to the Factory, Jacob swung down and headed for the Lift, with Jeremy dragging along behind him. Jacob opened the lift, and the pair got in; Jeremy shaking slightly. Jacob noticed this, and put two hands on his shoulders.

"You'll be _fine_!" he told Jeremy, emphasizing the last word as the door opened and he got off at the lab. "Head to the Scanners." As the doors shut, he heard Jeremy mutter, "You'd better be right," but took no notice of it. He headed for the computer interface, and launched the necessary programs. Down below him, a hesitant Jeremy got into the Scanner, and as he tried to back out, the doors closed behind him. Jacob fired up the procedure, and smiled as he thought about what was about to happen.

"Transfer Jeremy," he grinned. "Scanner Jeremy." Einstein gulped as the wind picked up from beneath him, and as he heard the last word, he squeezed his eyes shut even though he knew what was going to happen. "Virtualization!"

A few seconds later, the familiar zip could be heard as Jeremy virtualized onto Lyoko, and Jacob heard a satisfying thump, followed by a hastily grumbled "Ow!" which meant that Jeremy had, on cue, landed and fallen on his butt. Jacob laughed for the first time that day, and Jeremy caught the note as he got up and brushed himself off. He found his nervousness was gone as he growled under his breath.

"I heard that!" he scowled playfully as he took a good look at his Lyoko form. "Whoa…" he muttered as he brought a hand up to feel his face. Jeremy, in fact, did not look ridiculous at all this time around. He was wearing a dark blue, form-fitting body suit with black stripes that, if inspected closely, were actually made up of binary code. He was wearing light blue gloves, and his glasses had changed slightly, becoming more rectangular. They actually served now as targeting lenses. His blond hair was spiked somewhat, and had black tips at the end of the spikes, and his ears were pointed, though not as much as Aelita's were. Jacob pulled up a visual, and raised his eyebrows when he saw Jeremy.

"Whoa, Einstein, you look great!" Jacob complimented as Jeremy got a feel for being on Lyoko.

"Yeah, I was focused on not looking ridiculous. I like it!" he replied with a smile as his hand brushed the belt on his waist. He felt a small sheath, and pulled out a dagger. It was the same silver as Ulrich's sabres, and Jeremy tested its weight in his hand. "Hm, lightweight, easy to go hand-to-hand with if I need to," he mused. He slipped it back in the sheath as Jacob checked his position against the coordinates of the Tower.

"Shoot!" Jacob exclaimed loudly, causing Jeremy to jump slightly. "I didn't get you nearly as close to the Tower as I would have liked to," he added as he punched in some commands and pulled up the vehicle virtualization program. "So let's hope I really paid attention to your crash course," he said a little uneasily as he pulled up a new program. "I was working on this as a project; let's see how you like it, Einstein!" he exclaimed as he virtualized his new vehicle.

Jeremy watched as the new vehicle formed on Lyoko. It resembled Odd's Overboard, but it was a little longer and wider, with places for each foot and what looked to be small blast cannons on each side. It was silver and blue in color, and hovered off the ground at Jeremy's ankles. He nodded as he stepped on it, and marveled at the comfort.

"Did you plan this for me?" he asked with a grin.

"Well, it didn't start out that way, but if this hadn't happened, sooner or later I'd have forced you to get on Lyoko anyways…" he admitted sheepishly. "This is the Overglide," he added with pride. "What do you think?" he asked.

"It's great!" Jeremy grinned. "How do I control it?" he asked.

"Well, the flying part is connected to your profile, so it's telepathic, like Odd's Overboard and William's Overdisc. While you're in the air, each foot has a pressure switch. Left fires lasers and right fires missiles," Jacob explained as Jeremy carefully tested it out.

"Sweet!" Jeremy laughed.

"I figured it would give you some help in fighting!" he explained. "Now, the Tower is northwest from where you are now. Get going!" he finished as Jeremy took off on the Overglide…

Back at the theater, Odd and Ulrich were sizing up the robotic zombies, trying to see if there was any way they could get out of the theater and get to the Factory to help.

"Hey, you think we could take them on?" Odd asked as Ulrich sized their foes up.

"I think we could manage it," he replied. "You want to go for it?"

"Why not?" Odd laughed as they turned to Aelita, Yumi and William. "Okay, we're going to take on the toy brutes; when we make a hole, get to the doors, and see if you can get through the legs of those dinos and head for the Factory, okay?"  
"Got it!" the trio replied as Odd and Ulrich dashed out from where they were hiding and headed for the zombies.

"Yahh!" Ulrich cried as he dived onto one of the zombies and gave it a punch to the side of the head. He was rewarded by a sickening crunch as he knocked its head off, and he turned to see Odd plowing a hole through the wall of undead robots.

"Hey, you ugly machines! Come to Odd for a butt-kicking!" he taunted as he jabbed at their stomachs and then socked a pair of them in the heads and grimaced as their heads flew across the room. "That's gonna hurt in the morning!" he laughed. "Run for it!" he yelled as the two girls and William shot out and headed through the hole that Odd had ripped in the zombie line. They ducked under the legs of the T-Rexes, but Aelita froze when she heard a cry of pain, and she wheeled around to see one of the Rexes with a tooth stuck in Odd's arm. It released its toothy grip, and he dropped to the floor in pain as Aelita's eyes widened.

"You two go!" she yelled hastily as she ran back to get Odd out of danger. "I'll stay with him!" she cried nervously as she got to odd and made him look at her.

"Ungh…pretty Princess…" Odd mumbled through a haze of pain as Aelita dragged him to safety…

Meanwhile, on Lyoko, Jeremy had managed to get within sight of the Tower when he heard a faint buzzing behind him. He opened his mouth to speak, but Jacob was already way ahead of him.

"_Einstein, you got a massive Hornet swarm on your tail! XANA's not playing around this time! There's about twenty of them from what I can see!_" he added as Jeremy swerved the Overglide around to face the buzzing cloud.

"I can take them!" he replied as his left foot tensed on the board. He sighted the bugs with his lenses, and his foot pressed down on the pressure switch, releasing a spew of lasers at the bugs. The lucky ones were able to evade the blasts, but Jeremy nailed quite a few of them as they exploded in mid-air. "All right!" he grinned as he saw seven Hornets fly through the smoke. "Let's go!" he growled as he flew towards them. His right foot tensed now as he pressed on the switch and he swerved to avoid a few laser bursts from the bugs as his missiles impacted four of them, causing them to explode in yellow smoke clouds. He flew through the smoke and began to chase them now, taking the offense as he fired three quick laser spurts that struck their marks perfectly and wiped out the Hornets on contact. He grinned as he descended and heard Jacob's voice in his ear.

"_That was great, Jeremy! Now…uh-oh…_" he trailed off.

"What's uh-oh?" Jeremy asked quickly as he started to descend towards the Tower, and all of a sudden, the Overglide was struck by something and devirtualized, sending Jeremy crashing to the forest floor. "Oomph!" he groaned as the wind was knocked out of him, and he blinked as he looked up to see a pair of Tarantulas guarding the Tower now. "A little warning would have been nice!" he grumbled as he got up from the ground and sized up the Tarantulas. He jumped out of the way and growled when they blasted a barrage of lasers at him. Jacob pulled up a scan of Jeremy's profile quickly, and discovered something that might be useful.

"_Jeremy! I discovered you can fire energy lasers from your gloves!_"

"That's great," Jeremy hissed as he evaded another laser burst, "but how do I do it?" he asked as he thrust his palm towards one of the Tarantulas and gasped when a green orb appeared and blasted a beam of light from his palm. It impacted the Tarantula and cloaked it in a green aura for a moment before the beast exploded. "Oh, that's how," Jeremy laughed simply as a Krabe appeared to assist the second Tarantula. It fired a well-placed blast that struck Jeremy in the chest and knocked him onto his back.

"_Jeremy, you just lost 40 life points!_" Jacob warned.

"I can take it," Jeremy grunted as he dodged side to side, dodging lasers left and right as he tried to move closer to the monsters. All of a sudden, he saw stars as a laser hit him in the side, and he was thrown to the ground. As he tried to scramble back up, he looked up and saw the Krabe moving towards him. He squeezed his eyes shut as he saw the Krabe charge its stomach laser, and gulped as he prepared for the worst…

"Hi-yahh!" he heard as his eyes flew open and he saw a whirling disc pass over him, slicing into the Krabe's back and destroying it instantly. He jumped up as the Tarantula turned to see what had happened to see Yumi and William running towards him.

"Thought you could use some help, Jeremy," Yumi grinned as William yelled, "Super Smoke!" and whirled around the Tarantula, slicing and dicing it after a few moments. He reformed and came back to where the two of them were standing, and cocked his head slightly as he looked at the Tower.

"Here's a question," he asked curiously. "How are we going to deactivate the Tower?" At this, all of them, Jacob included, were struck silent. Even Jacob hadn't thought about this when he and Jeremy rushed to the Factory. He mulled it over for a minute before replying to William.

"_I could come onto Lyoko and do it…_" he offered, but Jeremy shook his head rapidly.

"No, no, no!" he emphasized. "_Way_ too dangerous still!" he added as he was suddenly struck with a blinding headache…

—_Flashback—_

"_Aelita?" Jeremy asked as he heard her thoughts ring in his head…_

"_The whole time Jeremy was on Lyoko, it was as if our minds were one…" Aelita said, trying to explain what she had felt…_

—_End Flashback—_

"I've got an idea!" Jeremy exclaimed as he walked towards the Tower. He placed his hand on the surface, and pressed against it, gasping when he fell through in a wave of blue ripples and entered the Tower…

"Yes!" Jacob exclaimed as Jeremy walked to the center of the first platform. He closed his eyes and focused, beginning to levitate…

"Unh…" Odd moaned deliriously as the pool of blood around him continued to seep outward…

"Hurry up, Jacob!" Aelita whispered… "He won't last much longer!"

Jeremy reached the second platform and touched down gently. He walked u to the Interface and laid his hand on it, his eyes widening in surprise when it blinked and lit up.

JEREMY

CODE:

LYOKO

"The Tower's deactivated! He did it!" Jacob grinned as Yumi and William watched the Tower's aura fade from red to white…

At the theater, Ulrich was fighting a zombie when it suddenly fell to the ground, lifeless. The terrible dinos froze up and stopped moving, and all of the toys that XANA had possessed fell lifeless as Aelita sighed. She sent a text to Jacob immediately, and he read it and nodded.

"Return to the Past, now!" he yelled as the white bubble engulfed the Factory and the city. When Aelita saw it rush towards the theater, she sighed in relief as Odd's eyes cracked open, and he looked at her in gratitude for a brief second before the Time Reversion took effect…

At the crossroads after school…

"So, Einstein didn't look ridiculous this time, huh?" Odd asked skeptically as Jeremy turned away, embarrassed. "I wish I'd been around to see that!" he laughed.

"Odd, stop!" Jeremy scolded playfully.

"So Jeremy deactivated the Tower?" Ulrich asked.

"Yes," Jeremy affirmed. "I think some of Aelita's code was transferred to me when our minds were melded. Remember, when I was trapped in limbo?" The others nodded. "I think I gained her ability to deactivate Towers form that!" he explained.

"I would say that's a pretty good guess," Aelita agreed. "I'm just so glad you finally overcame your fears and went back into Lyoko!" she added with a smile as she hugged him. He blushed before replying.

"Well, it wasn't _that_ impressive…" he said modestly.

"He did a great job, though," Jacob grinned as Jeremy looked up.

"Thanks, Jacob!" Jeremy smiled. "Although, I do prefer technology to fighting!" he laughed as Jacob rolled his eyes.

"That's our Jeremy!" he said as everyone burst out laughing…

LW94: So, Jeremy visits Lyoko, and we have our second Tower deactivator back! You had to know it would get a little easier again! Just wait, though, because we're about to dig back into the Antea/Aelita storyline again! I won't give anything away, though; you'll just have to stay tuned! Oh, by the way, I'm not getting any reviews or comments on how I'm doing hardly at all! So message me or post a comment! I won't post the next chapter of the story until I have a couple reviews! Hopefully that should give you some incentive! READ AND REVIEW!


	13. Episode 108:  Losing the Trail

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**Author's Note: THIS WILL BE THE LAST CHAPTER PUBLISHED UNTIL I START GETTING REVIEWS and/or feedback! Minimum 3 before I continue posting! READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! I want your feedback and input!**

**Episode 108: Losing the Trail**

It was dark in Jacob's room, and he groaned when his phone rang. He blinked his eyes blearily open and looked at his clock. It read 2:30. He moaned softly at the timing as his phone again vibrated, and he finally picked it up. "Jeremy, do you know what time it is?" he asked irritably.

"Yes, Jacob, and I wouldn't have called if we didn't have class tomorrow and it wasn't important," he pointed out. "Can you come down to the Factory?" he asked. "I think I've hit a break in Antea's file, but I need a hand with the decryption." Jacob sat up in bed sharply. This was not what he had planned at all! He was already throwing a shirt and shorts on when he replied hastily to Jeremy's question.

"I'll be right there!" he breathed as he grabbed his laptop and snuck almost silently into the shadows and out of the dorm building. He ran for the park, being careful to avoid the cameras and not be seen as he slipped through the shadows and towards the Sewer entrance. He lifted the manhole cover with astounding speed, climbing down the ladder and replacing the cover behind him. He grabbed his scooter and headed through the tunnels as fast as he could. The entire way, he was worrying, "_What if XANA finds the files? He could wipe them out, or worse, get to Antea if she's still out there…_" As soon as he got to the ladder leading up to the Factory bridge, he flew up the rungs, flashing down the ropes and to the Lift entrance. By the time the doors opened to deposit him in the Laboratory, he was thoroughly out of breath. Jeremy looked up in shock as he walked over, and Jacob panted as he pulled up a chair and sat down next to Jeremy, scanning his work quickly as his eyes flew over the screen. Jeremy watched all of this in surprise before he finally spoke.

"Okay…you got here in record time; you're out of breath; you're definitely worried about _something_," he pointed out. "What's going on?" he asked curiously as Jacob turned to him, slight worry on his face.

"What all have you done so far, Einstein?" he asked as Jeremy thought quickly.

"Uh…I managed to decode a big chunk of the file in regards to Antea's last known whereabouts and logs the KGB kept in the file. It was tough though…I had to open a complex key code that was blocking the last decryption layer…" he continued as Jacob's eyes widened in worry.

"Oh boy…" he muttered as his fingers flew over the keyboard. He quickly slipped a disc into the computer and burned all of the files to disc before he sighed and relaxed slightly. "Jeremy…you're going to smack me for this…but…I'm the one that put the lock on the file…" At this, Jeremy's mouth fell open and he stared in genuine shock before he finally mustered up a reply.

"Why…?" was all he could ask. Jacob stared at his feet before he replied quietly.

"To protect the contents of the file…" he explained. "I'm worried about what we'll find in it. If we do find information that proves that Antea is still alive…then based on what we know, XANA will stop at nothing to steal the information from us. I didn't want that to happen…" As he trailed off, he looked at Jeremy, scanning his face for any indication that the boy was terribly mad at him, but Jeremy instead put a hand on his shoulder as he responded.

"I'm glad you did what you did, then," he admitted. "You're right, I didn't think about the risk of us having that file in the open now. It's a good thing you thought about it," he smiled. "In any case, can I show you what I found now?" he asked. Jacob nodded warmly, but thought to himself, "_It had better be good for 2:30 in the morning…_" Jeremy opened a different page of the file than the one that was being worked on, and Jacob scanned through a bunch of the material.

"Ok…" he muttered. "They have record of her capture…ugh, it doesn't say where they took her from, though! I was hoping for that, at least…oh, well…" he sighed as he continued to read. As he continued to scan the page, his eyes grew wider and wider until he reached a set of coordinates. "On the globe?" he asked Jeremy excitedly. Jeremy nodded, and plugged them in. The on-screen map zoomed in to a portion of eastern Siberia, in Russia, and pinpointed a specific coordinate. Jacob just stared at it as Jeremy continued.

"From what I can gather, in the file, it talked about a base that the KGB was using to manufacture weapons and computer electronics, but it also mentioned some kind of a holding area or something. It didn't say what it was used for, but I can't imagine that it would be mentioned unless it meant something!" Jacob looked at the screen, and then at Jeremy.

"Einstein, it's been over a decade. You don't think it's possible…do you?" At this realization, Jeremy's hopes sank, and he sat back in his chair, massaging his temples as he tried to come up with an explanation.

"I just don't know…it's like we have a bunch of puzzle pieces, but they don't all fit together yet…ugh!" he groaned. "I wish I could figure this out!" he hissed as he tossed his headset down in frustration. Jacob just looked in surprise at him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You need some sleep…" he said softly as Jeremy looked at him. His eyes finally softened, and he nodded as he yawned deeply and stretched his arms above his head.

"You're right…maybe this will all make sense after I get some rest…" he muttered as Jacob walked him to the Lift and the two headed silently back to Kadic…

The next morning…

"Morning, guys!" Odd said cheerily as he joined Ulrich, William, Yumi, and Aelita at their breakfast table.

"Morning, Odd," Yumi smiled as she watched him take a heaping bite of eggs and pile them into his mouth. William laughed, and Ulrich just shook his head.

"Odd, I swear, if you didn't eat like the world was going to end tomorrow every day, I'd worry something was wrong with you," Ulrich laughed as Aelita looked around. He noticed the puzzled look in her eyes, and asked, "What's up, Aelita?"

"Have any of you seen Jeremy or Jacob this morning?" she asked in confusion. "We've been here for an hour now. It's not like them to not come down for breakfast, even if they're working on something…"

"Still asleep, maybe?" William offered. "It is Sunday, after all."

"Maybe…" Aelita trailed off. Just then, she heard a voice behind her, and she jumped, startled by it.

"Looking for me?" Jacob asked sneakily as the others laughed and he sat down next to her. He began to eat some breakfast and Aelita smiled. "Sorry guys, I overslept," he laughed as Ulrich nodded.

"This is late even for you," he commented. "Where's Einstein?" he asked.

"Asleep," Jacob replied. "He had a late night."

"At the Factory?" Aelita guessed. Jacob nodded as Aelita sighed. "I wish he would take a break sometimes…He's just so hard on himself sometimes…and it's hard on me too…" she trailed off as Odd put a hand on her shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Princess," he reassured her. "He'll come around and realize that he's not helping his relationship with you. But in the meantime, we're here for you," he reminded her as she smiled.

"I know," she grinned as Jacob's phone rang. He answered it quickly and in a bit of surprise.

"Jeremy?" he asked. The rest of the group immediately went silent, wondering what on earth could be going on. "Where are you?" he asked as Jeremy took a deep breath.

"At the Factory!" he said excitedly as Jacob's jaw dropped.

"If you tell me you ditched me and went back last night, I will kill you!" he scowled as Jeremy hushed him.

"No, I got up early and went back! Listen, I've got some good news. The file's ready. We can crack its secrets! The only catch is, I'll have to activate a Tower for my program to work, and I need you guys to defend it! You guys want to come to the Factory?" he asked. Aelita, who had been straining to listen, grinned excitedly as Jacob told her.

"We'll be right there, Jeremy!" she exclaimed in joy as she hung Jacob's phone up. He scowled for half a second and then laughed as the gang finished and ran for the School gates…

Once they arrived at the Factory, Jeremy already had the automatic virtualization process ready to go, but he stopped to talk to them for a few moments first before they went into the Scanners.

"Okay, here's the deal," he explained simply. "You all are going to go into Lyoko while Jacob and I remain here to run the decoding procedure from this end. Aelita will go into the Tower and work from the inside, and the four others will defend the Tower if XANA tries to attack it! Got it?" he asked quickly as three of them headed for the Scanners.

"You can count on us, Einstein!" Odd laughed as the doors closed…

Transfer Odd, Transfer William, Transfer Aelita.

Scanner Odd, Scanner William, Scanner Aelita.

Virtualization!

Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Yumi.

Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Yumi.

Virtualization!

A few moments later, the gang virtualized in the Ice Sector, a few hundred meters from the Tower that Jeremy was going to use for the decryption procedure.

"We're here, Jeremy," Aelita said as they landed.

"Great!" Jeremy grinned. "Head for the Tower, Aelita!" he added as the gang sprinted off in the direction of the Tower. Once they arrived, the gang took up a circular defensive perimeter around the base of the Tower and settled in to wait it out as Aelita entered the Tower. She floated up to the second level and walked up to the Interface, placing her hand on it to activate it. She dragged a few screens around until she had everything set up the way she wanted it, and then she finally said, "I'm ready, Jeremy!"

"Cool, Aelita," Jacob replied as he slipped on his new headset. "Sorry if I startled you, by the way. I'm going to run as much of the stuff from this end as I can," he explained as Aelita nodded inside the Tower.

"Okay," she said, affirming that she had heard him.

"It should ask you to confirm here in a second," Jacob added as he started up the procedure. Aelita waited, and blinked when the screen lit up. She quickly read the words scrolling across the screen.

Starting DECODING PROCESS. PLEASE scan TO CONFIRM.

Aelita placed her hand on the screen again, and it scanned her handprint before a green exclamation point popped up on Jacob's end. He uploaded the file into the system, and then spoke into the headset.

"Decode file. Subject: Antea Schaeffer."

"_File accepted. Please confirm_," the computer answered as Aelita's Interface began to blink again. She scanned her hand a third time, and the most recognizable screen popped up to begin the procedure.

Aelita

CODE:

LYOKO

DECODING PROCESS UNDERWAY.

And just like that, the Tower's aura changed to green, and inside, Aelita's screens began to light up as pages of the file flashed rapidly through the program…

"It's working, Jacob!" Aelita informed him as he sat back in his chair.

"Well, now, we wait," he said simply as he turned to Jeremy.

"Yes," he echoed. "We wait."

Outside the Tower, the others were waiting, slightly bored, when William's ears twitched. He heard a kind of rumbling sound in the distance, and he could hear it getting louder. He jumped up and started scanning the vicinity, and Ulrich looked at him strangely.

"William, what's up?" Ulrich asked.

"Shh…" William replied. Listen. Can you hear that?" he asked. Odd perked his ears, and nodded. He could hear it too, and the rumbling was definitely getting closer.

"Everyone ready!" Odd commanded as Ulrich and Yumi got to their feet quickly. "Jake, Jeremy, something's coming towards us! Can we have a heads-up?"

"Uh…hang on a sec, cat-boy," Jacob said with a smirk plastered on his face. After a moment, Odd realized what Jacob had said, and he scowled as Jacob pulled up the radar screen. "Ooh…that's not good…" he replied after a moment. "You've got four Megatanks headed your way! XANA's definitely on to us, and he's not playing around!" Jacob exclaimed. Suddenly, a red exclamation point popped up on his screen, and he saw the SuperScan pop up and disappear almost in the same second. His eyes widened as Jeremy figured out what was going on.

"Jacob, XANA's trying to take control of the Tower! If he gets his hands on the data, we lose _everything_!" he said suddenly as Jacob grumbled in reply.

"Wasn't I the one that told you that?" Jacob asked as on Lyoko, the Tower's aura flickered between red and green. He adjusted his headset and checked in with Aelita. "Princess?"

"Yes, Jacob? What is it?" she asked. "The decoding is going great on this end," she added.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Jacob cut in, "But we've got a slightly bigger problem on our hands! XANA's sending a squad of Megatanks your way! And…on top of that, he's trying to take control of the Tower. I'm worried that he's going to try to shut down the Tower by force if he can't gain control of it!"

"Okay, Jacob, I'll try to work as fast as I can," she assured him.

"I hope so…" Jacob and Jeremy said at the same time…both extremely worried…

Outside, the Megatanks had arrived on the scene, one each for Odd, Yumi, Ulrich, and William. They all tensed up as Ulrich, Yumi and William drew their weapons, and prepared to fight.

"Bring it on, you big hunks of junk!" Odd yelled as he crouched down on all fours and ran towards the Megatank. It whirred around and opened, charging power as it prepared to fire. It blasted its elliptical laser, and Odd had to take evasive action to avoid it as he sighted the Eye from the end of his fist. "Laser Arrow!" he yelled as he fired a shot at it, but it snapped shut in time for its thick casing to protect against the blow. It rolled towards Odd, now on a collision course with him, and Odd tried to leap out of the way, but the Megatank managed to run right over his foot, and Odd let out a yelp of pain as he fell to the ground.

"Ah!" he exclaimed in shock as it opened and fired, the laser slicing through him like a hot knife through butter as he was devirtualized.

Meanwhile, Ulrich was fighting his Megatank with slightly better luck. He was managing to evade its well-timed shots and charges with his agility, and he stopped to line up his blade with the Eye on the Megatank's inner casing as it opened to charge power.

"Super Sprint!" he yelled as he dashed towards the metal sphere. It let off the elliptical blast, and Ulrich masterfully zipped to the side as he leaped into the air. "Impact!" he screamed as he tried to thrust his blade into the Megatank's eye, but it closed just in time, and Ulrich's sabre deflected off the metal casing and flew behind the Megatank. He dashed to retrieve it, but by the time he had, the Megatank had let off another blast, which he barely managed to stop with his sword, but the force of the laser was too great, and it shattered his sword and devirtualized Ulrich on the spot.

Yumi had a better idea. She focused her mind, and began to lift her Megatank into the air. She tried to get it out over the Digital Sea, but she couldn't hold on to the focus just long enough, and the Megatank fell onto the edge of the ground and faced her. It rolled towards her, and lay down on its side, opening up as it charged its laser. It fired, the horizontal laser spreading across the plane as Yumi jumped into the air to avoid it. She came back down, and threw her fans at the beast.

"Hi-yahh!" she yelled as the whirling discs came flying at the Megatank, which rolled out of the line of fired and fired as Yumi was retrieving her fans. She could not jump in enough time to dodge this blast, and the laser cut right through her stomach, devirtualizing her before she could react.

And then there was William. He was trying to confuse the Megatank, and he ran around behind it as he leaped towards the ground.

"Super Smoke!" he yelled as he turned into his signature silver smoke trail and moved across the ground. He reformed right in front of the Megatank, and brought his Zweihander down on the behemoth. It closed in time to keep the blow from being fatal, but it did leave a nasty gash in the casing of the beast as it prepared to roll over William. William, though, saw this coming, and smiled for an instant as he plotted out his next move.

"Super Smoke!" he yelled again as he vanished. He began to lure the Megatank along, and it followed him stupidly down the path away from the Tower. He shot down and made a turn towards the end of the ground. At the last second, he made a sharp turn away from the cliff, and the Megatank couldn't stop in time to save itself. It rolled off the cliff, and the blue beam of light confirmed impact. William reformed as he headed back towards the Tower, and grinned.

"Well, that wasn't so—ungh!" he exclaimed in pain and shock as he was hit from behind by a barrage of laser blasts. A Tarantula had snuck up behind him, and William punched his fist against the side of the Scanner as he reappeared in the Scanner Room.

"No fair!" he muttered angrily.

Back on Lyoko, Aelita was still busy trying to finish the decoding when a massive "BOOM!" rocked the Tower. She was almost knocked off her feet, but scrambled back up quickly.

"Jacob! What's happening?" she exclaimed.

"The Megatanks are attacking the Tower!" he screamed back. "How close are we?" he asked quickly.

"Not close enough!" she replied in fear now as another blast rocked the Tower. The Megatanks continued to fire, and the Tower rocked as the white coating began to wear away, exposing the wire mesh underneath. The aura began to flicker back towards white, and Jeremy panicked as he took the controls.

"Aelita, stop the process, now!" he exclaimed as she tried to access the Interface.

"It's not responding!" she replied in terror as the Megatanks blasted the Tower one more time. A crack appeared on the outside, and the aura completely changed to white before it went blood-red…

"NO!" Jacob screamed as XANA began to download all the information from the Tower and destroy it piece by piece. Aelita watched in total shock and unrivaled horror as all of their hard work disappeared before her eyes. Once XANA had destroyed it all, the Tower's glow changed, and it returned to white as the screens faded. Aelita shakily walked over to the Interface and accessed it, hoping to find any scrap of information that had been missed…

"It's all gone…" she whispered in a choked voice. "There's nothing…" Jacob just sighed in agonizing defeat as he pounded his fist on the desk.

"I'll bring you in…" he whispered…

Once the entire gang was back in the Computer Lab, Jacob forlornly stared at the ceiling in despair before he spoke.

"We were so close to finding something…" he growled. "So close…!" he hissed as Aelita patted his shoulder glumly.

"We tried…" she sighed. "I guess the trail's gone cold, then…"

"Maybe for now," Jeremy commented. "But there _has_ to be some information somewhere else out there! We'll find another clue!" he emphasized as Jacob sighed.

"Maybe…"

LW94: And so, the trail runs cold… Will the Warriors lose hope? Stay tuned to find out…


	14. Episode 109: A New Arrival

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**Author's Note: Okay, so maybe I fibbed a little bit… I can't just stop writing; it's in my blood. BUT, just because I am still posting does not mean I don't want feedback! PLEASE; I'm begging; I want your feedback! READ AND REVIEW!**

**Episode 109: A New Arrival**

Three days after what could only be called a disastrous setback, the gang was back in classes and trying to settle back in while still fighting a huge sense of disappointment from their defeat in trying to find any trace of Antea.

"Anything?" Aelita said glumly as they met at the crossroads.

"No, not a thing…" Jacob sighed. "I guess we just go back to fighting like we always have."

"That's all we can do, huh?" William remarked, trying to brighten the mood a bit. "We'll get somewhere; I know we will, it'll just take some time," he added as Jacob raised his eyebrows. "What is it?" he asked as they all turned around and saw someone walking past them. He was a rather tall boy, with bright red hair (and I mean candy-apple red, not like red in real-life) and a splash of freckles on his cheeks. He looked to be in 8th grade, and he was muttering to himself when he tripped, and he dived to catch himself as his books went crashing to the ground. The gang saw this and Jacob immediately ran over to help him. He reached the boy's side, and knelt down to help gather up his things.

"You okay?" he asked as he brushed the books off and handed them back to the boy.

"Yes, thanks," the boy replied as he brushed his red bangs out of his eyes and looked at Jacob with gratitude in his eyes.

"Oh, not a problem at all," Jacob smiled as he helped the boy up. The boy smiled in return before the bell rang through the grounds. He said a quick thank-you before running off, and Jacob walked back over to where the rest of the gang was standing.

"That was a nice thing you did," Ulrich smiled as Jacob looked at his feet in embarrassment.

"I live to help others," he replied. "It's what I do."

"Well, what we should do now is head on before we're late!" Jeremy pointed out as Odd and Ulrich nodded. "See you guys later!" he called back to Yumi and William as he, Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, and Jacob headed for the Science building…

The gang slipped quickly into Mrs. Hertz's class just before the bell rang. She turned as they entered and nodded, smiling briefly at Jacob as he sat down. Once the class was seated and the quiet muttering had stopped, she began to speak.

"Now, class, I can say with complete certainty that your last tests left a lot to be desired," she said simply as she began handing back papers. She reached Odd and Ulrich's desks and just shook her head. "Della Robbia, I want to see a lot more _effort_ from you. Skating by will do you no good once you get out of here," she remarked. "D," she said as she handed him his paper, which had a 70 marked at the top in red ink. Odd just smiled as he thought to himself, "_Big deal, I still passed._" Mrs. Hertz moved on to Ulrich, with a rather pleased look on her face as she spoke to him. "Stern, I'm rather impressed with your work this semester. I think you are trying a lot harder to do well. B," she said as she handed him back his paper. Ulrich smiled as he took the paper, and saw an 87 at the top.

"Yes," he whispered as Mrs. Hertz came to Jeremy, Aelita, and Jacob.

"Do I even need to say anything?" she asked rhetorically, which caused Jacob to chuckle for a moment. "You three are the reason I can smile about my teaching. A+, all three of you," she finished as she handed them their papers, which were similarly marked with three 100s. Jacob just smiled as Jeremy and Aelita began to discuss the test. Mrs. Hertz came around the room, and then Jacob heard a voice from across the room.

"But I thought—"

"Poliakoff, what you thought, and what you needed to do are two entirely different things! Zero!" Mrs. Hertz scowled as she threw his paper down on his desk and strode quickly back to her own, firing up the projector as she did. "Now, class, today we are going to be studying atoms. Now, can anyone tell me what makes up an atom?" she asked as three hands shot up. She gazed at the front three desks, where Jacob, Jeremy, and Aelita sat, and sighed. "I wish the rest of you would be as attentive as these three are!" she fumed. "They are model students, and you should be following their examples! Jacob?" she asked in exasperation.

"An atom is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons," he said simply.

"Very good," she replied as she turned to the board and pointed to a picture of an atom. "Protons are positively charged and found in the nucleus, along with neutrons, which have no charge. Electrons, meanwhile, are much smaller, and are found orbiting the nucleus in rings."

"Like Saturn?" Nicolas asked dryly.

"No, not…well, in a way…" Mrs. Hertz replied with a slight stutter. "Anyways, electrons are much smaller than protons or neutrons and are negatively ch—" she stopped short as Principal Delmas knocked on the open door and entered the room. Jacob looked up to see what was happening, but the rest of the gang paid no attention. Jeremy was calmly taking notes; Ulrich was furiously taking note of everything Mrs. Hertz had said; Odd was doodling pictures of Kiwi in his binder, and Aelita was working feverishly on her laptop under the table, so that no one could see what she was doing. Following quietly behind the Principal was the same red-haired boy that Jacob had helped out earlier. Delmas cleared his throat quickly before speaking.

"Suzanne, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a new student here at Kadic Academy who will be joining your class," he said. At this, the rest of the gang looked up to see what was going on. Jeremy's eyes flashed in recognition as he recognized the boy, and Odd and Ulrich nodded. Aelita just paid half attention as she continued to quietly type out of sight. "I expect you all to make him feel right at home," Delmas continued. "His name is Marth Kodgi," he added, pronouncing it KODH-gi.

"Actually, it's Kodji, sir," Marth said quietly, speaking for the first time.

"Oh, my apologies," Delmas replied before patting Marth on the shoulder and walking out of the class. Marth just looked around shyly at everyone.

"Um…teacher…where should I sit?" he asked quietly, staring at his feet again.

"Um…" Mrs. Hertz said as she scanned the room for an empty chair. She finally found one right behind Aelita's desk. "You can sit behind Miss Stones," she replied, pointing to Aelita. She looked up and smiled as Marth came over and took his seat behind her. "My name is Mrs. Hertz, by the way," she added. "Welcome to Kadic."

"Thank you," Marth replied with a small smile as he looked at Aelita's laptop in curiosity. He tried to make sense of all the stuff on the screen, but after a moment, he shrugged it aside and began to take notes as Mrs. Hertz went back to her lecture.

"Now, where were we…?"

Soon, the bell rang and the gang headed for Gym. Surprisingly enough, Jim was not there right when the late bell rang, but he appeared from the locker room after a moment.

"Okay, class, listen up! Today, we're going to be playing dodgeball! So, divide into teams and get ready to have some fun!" As the class divided, Marth hesitantly looked around. Jim noticed this, and came up to him. "Now, son, who might you be? I've never seen you around here before," he commented.

"My name's Marth Kodji," he replied quietly. "I'm a new student here."

"Ah, I see! Well, my name's Mr. Morales, and I'm the supervisor and Gym teacher here, as you can see. But, you can call me Jim," he added as he shook Marth's hand.

"Thank you, Jim," Marth replied as he scanned the two halves of the class. Jacob glanced back, and Marth saw that it was the person who had helped him earlier. He walked over and stood next to Jacob as Jim counted both sides to make sure they were even. "Hey, thanks for earlier," Marth whispered.

"No problem," Jacob replied with a smile. "I'm Jacob," he added, extending a hand for Marth to shake. Marth did so warmly and smiled for the first time since he had arrived at Kadic.

"Marth," he replied as Jim blew his whistle.

"Okay, teams, we're ready to go! On my go, you'll start this game! Three, two, one…"

"Ready?" Jacob asked as Marth nodded.

"Go!" Jim yelled as the rubber balls began to fly…

After that, the bell rang, and the gang headed to lunch. They were standing in the line as Odd was telling a joke.

"And the guy says, 'Sorry, but all we've got is medium rare!'" Ulrich just groaned at the terrible punchline, and Jacob laughed dryly as he got his food from Rosa. Once the whole gang had done so, they sat down at their usual table. Jacob thought he caught a glimpse of red hair on the other side of the cafeteria, but he wasn't sure. He just shrugged it off as Jeremy and Aelita began to chat. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Yumi looked over to a near-empty lunch table and saw something a little unusual.

"Hey, who's that?" she asked as Jacob looked over and saw Marth sitting by himself at a table.

"That's the new kid here," Aelita replied before Jacob could get a word in edgewise. "I think his name is Marth," she added.

"It is, Princess," Jacob replied. "You might know that if you had paid a little attention today," he laughed as Aelita looked hurt. Jacob saw the look on her face, and immediately felt bad. "I'm sorry, Aelita…I know you're still hoping for another clue, and I shouldn't be mad at you…"

"It's okay," she replied, shrugging off the comment as if it were nothing. "I can take a joke," she grinned as Jacob looked over again at Marth, who looked really lonely by himself. Jacob thought for a second, and then said:

"Hey, Marth! Over here!" Marth looked around, and then caught the smile on Jacob's face.

"Hey!" he said as he came over with his tray. "Do you mind if I sit with you?" he asked.

"I don't. Anyone object?" he asked.

"No," the rest of the group replied as Marth sighed and took a seat.

"I know that it's hard being the new kid," Jacob said to Marth. "I was not too long ago myself," he explained.

"Yeah," Marth agreed as Odd swallowed a mouthful of meatballs and spoke to Marth.

"So, let me give you the grand tour then," he said with a sly smile on his face. "I'm Odd, Kadic's resident sense of humor," he added before Ulrich snorted in amusement.

"Wow, Odd. Five minutes and you're already lying to him," he laughed.

"Haha…" Odd said dryly. "That's my best friend, if you can call him that, Ulrich Stern. The girl in pink is my cousin, Aelita Stones. The computer whiz is Jeremy Belpois, or Einstein, as we like to call him. I see you've already met Jacob," Odd added as Jacob smiled.

"Yeah, we've talked already," Marth said.

"The girl in black is our friend Yumi Ishiyama," Odd continued. "She doesn't board here, but she lives in town. She's a grade ahead of us. And that," Odd flourished towards William, "is William Dunbar. He's a year ahead of us too, and he's a good friend," Odd finished as Marth took all of this in.

"Nice to meet everyone," Marth smiled. "I'm Marth Kodji," he said as he took a sip of his soda and began to feel more comfortable.

"So, Marth, what do you like?" Ulrich asked.

"Well, I'm a big video gamer," he grinned, "and I'm a bit of a sports fan."

"Oh, really?" Ulrich asked. "What do you play? Soccer?"

"Nah," Marth replied. "Not a big soccer fan. I'm more into baseball," he explained as Ulrich nodded.

"Okay, that's great too," Ulrich replied. Marth looked over at Aelita, who had a frustrated look on her face as she stared at her laptop. Her fingers flew over the keys as she tried inputting something, and Marth noticed her frustration.

"Something wrong, Aelita?" he asked as she looked up and over at him.

"Oh, it's nothing," she replied. "It's really complicated," she sighed. "Let's just say I haven't seen my parents in a long time and I'm trying to reach them…"

"Oh…it was like that with me after my dad left…" Marth trailed off. "I haven't seen him in a while." Aelita nodded as she went back to her work, and Marth looked over to see Sissi walking their way with a stuck-up look on her face. "Who's that?" he asked as Jacob scowled.

"Sissi Delmas," Jacob sighed. "The Principal's daughter. She's got a thing for Ulrich, but he doesn't want anything to do with her. Never has," he added as Sissi reached the gang.

"Hello, Ulrich dear," she said sweetly as Ulrich scowled and looked up at her.

"What do you want, Sissi?" Ulrich asked exasperatedly.

"Well, I thought we were supposed to have plans…" she said innocently. "You promised…"

"In your dreams, Sissi," Ulrich shot back as Sissi grumbled under her breath before turning to Marth.

"Hello, newbie," she said kindly. "I don't see why you would ever want to hang with these losers. Why don't you come hang with us?" she asked as she gestured over to her table where Herve and Nicolas were sitting. Marth just scoffed under his breath and looked at her.

"I think I'm fine here, thanks," he said shortly as Jacob laughed and Sissi just growled in frustration.

"Urgh! What is it about you losers?" she fumed loudly as she stormed off. Jacob just grinned and turned to high-five Marth.

"Well played!" he grinned as Marth just smiled.

"Well, I figure you guys have been nice to me. And she seems snobby," he added as Ulrich laughed dryly.

"You have no idea…" he started, and the whole gang burst out laughing. Marth joined in after a moment, and Jacob turned to him.

"Marth, what dorm are you?" Jacob asked as Marth pulled out his key and examined it.

"Um…211, I think…" Marth said as Jacob did the math in his head.

"You're next door to me!" he exclaimed after a moment. Marth sighed in relief.

"Great, someone I know," he smiled as the lunch bell rang.

"Hey, let's head upstairs to Jeremy's dorm!" Odd exclaimed suddenly. Jeremy's head shot up and you could tell he had a puzzled look on his face.

"Why my room?" he asked in confusion.

"Well, mine and Ulrich's is out because of Kiwi, Yumi doesn't board here, I don't even know if anyone can walk in William's, and Aelita never has nothing going on in hers," Odd finished simply.

"What about Jacob's?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm reorganizing," Jacob explained with a chuckle. "I don't even know if I can find anything in there…" he trailed off as Odd and William laughed.

"Fine…" Jeremy grumbled.

"What's a kiwi?" Marth asked suddenly. Odd laughed before he replied.

"My little diggity-dog," Odd explained.

"But I thought pets weren't allowed at Kadic," Marth commented.

"Well…they're not…but I couldn't leave him at home. He's my diggity-dog!" Odd replied as the gang laughed.

"It's okay. I won't tell a soul," Marth smiled as the gang headed for the dorm building…

In Jeremy's dorm, Marth looked around and saw all the electronics, and the first thing that came to his mind was…

"_Computer whiz…_" he thought slyly as he sat down in a chair next to Jacob and Jeremy. Jeremy pulled up some of the data screens on his computer, and Marth took a glance at them and realized that some of it was similar to what he had seen on Aelita's laptop earlier.

"Hey, what is that? A computer game?" he asked. Jeremy turned around, flustered as he quickly blacked everything out.

"No," Jeremy replied. "No, it's just something I'm working on," he answered as Marth gazed at the whole group slyly. Even Jacob didn't quite want to meet his eyes for a second.

"Why do I get the feeling that it's something you don't want me to know about? Are you guys keeping a secret?" he asked.

"I—" Jeremy broke off, trying to think of something to say.

"Don't mind him; he's just protective about his work," Jacob replied, smiling at Marth.

"Okay…" Marth said in reply. "But I still think there's a secret!"

"And what if there is?" Aelita asked him in joking challenge.

"Well then, I want to know what it is!" he shot back with a chuckle.

"Well, you can't!" Aelita laughed competitively.

"Bet I can!"

"Can't!"

"Wanna bet?" Marth challenged. Ulrich looked playfully at Aelita, who smiled and gave Marth an "_Are you sure about that?_" look. Marth just grinned in reply.

"What's the challenge?" Aelita asked him eagerly.

"Arm wrestle," he grinned as he walked over to Jeremy's table and sat down. Aelita joined him and took a seat across from him. "I can beat you at anything!" Marth boasted playfully.

"We'll see about that," Aelita shot back as she locked hands with Marth and the two began to tussle. Sweat began to bead on Aelita's forehead as she resisted against Marth's arm, but in the end, he won out, and Aelita's hand hit the table with a "Thud!" of defeat. Marth grinned as he stood up. "You just got lucky," Aelita shot at him, and Marth just laughed at his victory.

"Oh yeah? I think I showed you up at arm wrestling!" Marth laughed.

"Very funny…" Aelita grumbled playfully as the two realized they were still holding hands. Aelita blushed as she pulled her hand away gently and Marth continued to boast about his victory over the pinkette…

That night…

"Unh!" Jacob muttered as he bolted up out of a dead sleep. The nightmares were happening again. He blinked his eyes as he focused on his room. He slowly got up and walked over to the window, staring out at the crossroads below. The moon was hidden by a cloud and the soft light cast long shadows everywhere that gave a haunting look to the grounds. Jacob just took the view in for a moment before a soft beeping from his desk caught his attention. He walked over to his laptop and opened it, shuffling through the windows quickly until he came to the SuperScan. He groaned as he looked at it, and immediately pulled out his cell phone, dialing Jeremy's number…

"Unh…huh?" Jeremy muttered groggily as his phone buzzed on his nightstand. He picked it up slowly and flipped it open to answer it. "Hello?" he said sleepily.

"_Jeremy, it's Jacob. XANA's activated a Tower! We need to get to the Factory!_" he exclaimed quickly as Jeremy's focus suddenly heightened and he reached for his glasses and shoes.

"Call Aelita and Yumi. I'll grab Odd, Ulrich and William. Let's head out!" he replied as he slipped his shoes on.

Marth, on the other hand, could not sleep well. It was his first night in a new school, and he was still a little uneasy. He got up and walked over to his window, and looked down at the crossroads. Suddenly, his eyes caught a movement outside, and his focus darted over to where the movement had come from. He could just make out Jeremy, Jacob, and Aelita as the gang ran for the gates. He watched in surprise as Odd, Ulrich, and William came shortly after them.

"What in the world are they doing out this late?" Marth asked himself in confusion. He knew now that he had to find out…so he slipped on his shoes and clothes and headed out to follow the group…


	15. Episode 110:  Acceptance

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**Author's Note: Please read and review! Looking forward to your feedback!**

**Episode 110: Acceptance**

The gang made their way through the shadows towards the sewers entrance in the park. When they arrived, Odd lifted the manhole cover and the gang slipped through one after another. Odd came through last and closed off the manhole, but not before Marth snuck up behind them and hid behind a tree, watching as Odd went into the tunnel and closed the manhole behind him. Marth waited until he was sure they were far enough away that he wouldn't be caught, and then lifted the manhole, peering into the half-light and down the ladder.

"Where in the world are they going?" he asked no one as he began to climb down the ladder after them…

Jeremy and the gang grabbed their scooters and skateboards and raced through the sewer tunnels towards the main tunnel that opened up onto the Factory bridge. When they arrived, they climbed up the ladder and raced into the doorway, swinging down to the Lift entrance and racing towards the Lift. Jeremy punched the button, and the door opened after a moment. The gang raced into the Lift and it began it's descent towards the Computer Lab. When the door opened, Jacob and Jeremy got off and Jeremy told the others, "Head down to the Scanner Room. I'll start the procedure." The pair headed for the computer, and Jeremy sat down and hooked up his headset while Jacob grabbed the other headset and a chair. He sat down next to Jeremy and got all of his things hooked up. He had no more than done that when he and Jeremy heard a voice ring in their ears.

"We're ready, geniuses," Ulrich laughed.

"Hey, Ulrich, the word is _genii_," Jacob laughed as he started the procedure.

"Whatever," Ulrich smirked as the scanner doors closed.

Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Aelita, Transfer Odd.

Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Aelita, Scanner Odd.

Virtualization!

Transfer William, Transfer Yumi.

Scanner William, Scanner Yumi.

Virtualization!

After a few moments, all five Warriors had virtualized in the Ice Sector. Once Yumi hit the ground, the five of them looked around the Sector, and saw no sign of the Tower. In fact, there were no signs of anything. It was quiet…too quiet…

"There's nothing here, Jeremy," William remarked.

"I know; it's a little weird…" Jeremy replied. "The Tower is due north. I'm virtualizing your vehicles!" he added as he virtualized the Overbike, Overboard, Overdisc, and both Overwings. The five Warriors hopped on their respective vehicles and zoomed off in the direction of the Tower…

Meanwhile, Marth was running through the tunnels, trying to pinpoint where the gang had gone. He came to the point where the West Tunnel split off in two different directions. He mulled his options for a moment, and then saw faint tracks in the grime on the floor. He bent down to inspect them, and saw they were wheel marks, from a skateboard or scooter.

"Gotcha," he muttered as he raced to the right…

He came to the main tunnel, and saw a ladder leading up from where he was. He began to climb, and when he got to the top, he saw it opened up onto a bridge. He looked around, and then looked ahead of him at the massive Factory entrance.

"Whoa…this place is weird…" he muttered as he walked through the huge doorway and into the main entrance. He swung down the rope to the Lift level, and looked around. "Some type of old, abandoned factory? What would they want here…?" he mused as he saw the Lift straight ahead of him…

Back on Lyoko, the others were making quick pace towards the Tower, and when they approached it, they watched as XANA materialized a trio of Tarantulas and a half dozen Krabes to surround it.

"Whoa…XANA's pulling out the big guns…" William remarked as the gang stopped in their tracks. "Wonder why…"

"I don't know, but I'll find out," Jeremy replied as he scanned his government connections quickly. He came to one and paused, his eyes scanning it quickly as his mouth opened into an O.

"Oh, this is not good…" Jacob said, voicing Jeremy's sentiment.

"What is it?" Aelita asked.

"When William said XANA was pulling out the big guns, he was right on the nose," Jacob explained. "XANA's taking control of a Russian military satellite. It's got new technology and weaponry on it, including a futuristic laser that from my information; has enough power to vaporize anything within a mile of the impact point. It's got all the power of a nuclear bomb!" Jacob explained frantically. "He's charging it up now. We have fifteen minutes before he has enough power to fire. And here's the kicker…"

"He's aimed it right at the Factory?" Yumi asked cynically.

"Bingo," Jeremy replied. "If he blasts us, the entire city goes too. You _have_ to deactivate that Tower!"

"We're on it, Einstein!" Odd shot back quickly as he jumped back on his Overboard. "Bonzai!" he yelled as he charged towards XANA's monsters.

"Idiot!" Ulrich muttered. "Super Sprint!" he cried as he dashed in after Odd. Aelita looked at the pair, and then at Yumi and William.

"Let's go," she sighed as the trio ran in to help…

Back in the Computer Lab, Jeremy was trying to modify the laser's trajectory or cut the power supply; anything to give them a little more time. He and Jacob were so focused on trying to stop the attack that they never even heard the elevator start up…

"Hunh!" Ulrich grunted as he launched himself into the air. He landed on top of the Krabe and screamed "Impact!" as he brought his sabre down into the Eye on its back, jumping off before the beast exploded. "Yeah—unh!" he cried as he was hit in the back by a barrage of Tarantula lasers. He staggered up and turned to face the Tarantulas.

"Ulrich, you just lost sixty Life Points!" Jacob screeched in warning. "Watch it!"

"I know, Jake!" Ulrich spat through his teeth as he dashed towards the Tarantulas. He slashed at them, trying to slice them in half, but he wasn't fast enough to hit them. He skidded around and turned to face them as they leveled their blasters at him…

Meanwhile, Odd and William were taking on three of the Krabes, and Odd was dashing underneath the Krabe, trying to get a shot off. Before he could, it fired its stomach laser, and the second Krabe fired its triple laser. The barrage was too close-range for either boy to dodge. William tried to activate his Super Smoke, but he couldn't in time, and both boys were knocked backwards to the ground by the blasts.

"Ugh…how many Life Points do I have left, Jeremy?" William grunted.

"More than Odd," Jeremy replied. "The only way this is going to work is if you guys can take out those monsters!"

"So this is your secret…" a familiar voice from behind Jeremy and Jacob said. Jacob whirled around to see Marth standing behind them, looking around with a curious and yet hurt look on his face, as if he couldn't quite believe his new friends would keep something this big from him.

"Marth…" Jacob started, but then stopped, unsure of what to say.

"I guess I win the bet with Aelita then," he said sheepishly. "Where is she, anyhow?" he asked in curiosity.

"I…we…I mean…" Jeremy stuttered, trying to think of a way to explain things without giving anything away. But it was Yumi who provided the answer a few moments later.

"Jeremy, maybe Marth can help us!" she exclaimed in slight frustration as she threw her fans at one of the Krabes, having to leap out of the way as it returned fire.

"How?" he asked suddenly, turning back to the computer screen.

"Send him to Lyoko," she finished simply.

"What?" Jeremy shot back in shock. "No, not happening! He has no experience or knowledge of Lyoko at all! And I don't know if we—"

"Jeremy, stop!" William cut him off. "I had no knowledge either, and you guys let me in! Besides, we really need the help right about now!" he grunted as he sliced at the legs of a Krabe. It fired back at him, and hit him in the shoulder, knocking him backwards. "Quickly!" he reminded as Jeremy thought it over in a hurry. After a moment he sighed deeply and finally began to divulge everything.

"Okay, Marth, here's how this works. This here," he gestured to the Holomap, "is a virtual world called Lyoko. The others are in there fighting an evil computer program called XANA and the monsters he's created. They're outnumbered and in trouble. I'm going to send you into the virtual world to help the gang fight."

"So I'm going into a video game to fight off monsters like a Warrior?" he asked in wonder. "Cool!" he grinned.

"Marth, take the Lift, the elevator you came down in, and go down one level to the Scanner Room," Jacob explained. "When the doors to one of the Scanners open; get inside of it; and Jeremy and I will start the virtualization procedure."

"Okay," Marth said, slightly nervous as he headed down to the Scanners. He arrived, and looked in wonder at the tall metal tubes before the doors to the one nearest to him opened. He did as he was told and got inside, and jumped when the doors shut behind him. "Uh, Jacob?" he asked nervously.

"_Calm down, everything's fine,_" he heard Jacob say over the speaker. "Let's do this," Jacob said as he tapped the keyboard and started the procedure. "Transfer Marth." Marth felt a wind underneath him as the Scanner prepped for action. "Scanner Marth." Marth felt himself being lifted up off the ground as he saw the scanner bar pass over his body. Jacob smiled when the new profile entered the computer, and the virtual rendering of Marth's body glowed completely green, signaling that everything was set to go. "Fasten your seatbelts," he muttered under his breath as he punched one more key.

"Virtualization!" he said as Marth was enveloped in the blinding light…

A few moments later, Marth began to appear on Lyoko, and as he fell towards the ground, he managed to right himself and land on his feet, a feat that didn't usually occur for someone going to Lyoko their first time. He landed softly, and after a moment of silence, Jacob spoke to him over the com-link.

"_What, no 'Ow'?_" he asked, and Marth jumped at the sudden sound.

"Jacob?" he asked in surprise. "Where are you?"

"_I'm talking to you via communications from the Factory. I'm stunned you landed on your feet, by the way,_" he laughed as Marth grinned in embarrassment.

"Guess I got lucky," he smiled as he took a look at himself. "Whoa…" he gasped as he saw his appearance. He was wearing a red ninja suit with a black headband, and strapped to his back was a sizable battle ax. Marth took it off and swung it to get a feel for the weapon. His red hair had even undergone a face lift. While it was ruffled on Earth, it was spiked up in long points on Lyoko. Jacob chuckled and giggled under his breath, "_It kinda looks like a porcupine,_" but Marth caught this and scowled, "I heard that! Besides, I think it's cool!" he grinned as he hefted his ax.

"_Uh, Jacob, the monsters,_" Jeremy reminded him quickly. Marth heard this and felt his adrenaline rush.

"_Oh, right,_" Jacob said sheepishly. "_Marth, listen up. The Tower that Aelita has to get to in order to deactivate it and stop the laser is north of your current position. Head for the arch to your left and you should see the others before too long. Oh, I almost forgot, here's a vehicle for you to travel quicker. It's mine, so I would appreciate it if you try to keep it in one piece,_" he laughed as he virtualized the Overwheel and Marth hopped in the driver's seat.

"How do I drive this thing?" he asked.

"_Left handle is throttle; right one is brake,_" Jacob explained as Marth shot forward and quickly figured out the steering. He had it down after a few seconds, and zoomed off through the arch. A few seconds later he had made it to the open area where the Tower was, and he saw the Tarantulas and Krabes blasting away at the rest of the gang.

"What are those?" he asked quickly as he jumped off the Overwheel and drew his ax. "The red things look like crabs and the white ones with four legs just look weird," he commented.

"Those are Tarantulas, and you were right on about the Krabes," Jacob replied. "That's with a K, by the way," he added. "All of XANA's monsters have the Eye symbol on them. You hit that, and they're dead on impact," Jacob added as Marth wielded his ax.

"All right then, let's do this," he smirked confidently as he rushed in to join the others. "Yahh!" he yelled as he launched off of a rock in front of him and landed on top of a Krabe. "Take this!" he yelled as he lifted his ax and slammed it into the Eye on the Krabe's back. He leaped off just before it exploded and landed next to Odd, who grinned.

"What's up, Marth?" he said comically as the pair leaped out of the way of a barrage of Tarantula lasers. "Watch out!" Odd warned as the Tarantula leveled its blasters to fire at Marth. Marth barely had time to jump as the laser blasts came at him, and one hit him in the shoulder, spinning him behind a rock as he dropped to a knee and clutched his shoulder.

"That stings!" he hissed as his shoulder sparked for a moment.

"_Marth, you just lost twenty life points,_" Jacob warned him. "_Lose all of them and you'll be brought back to Earth. Try to be careful,_" he added as Marth nodded. He peered out from behind the rock and sized up his next move. He watched as Ulrich zipped around a Krabe and sliced its legs, lowering it to the ground and causing it to explode when it hit the ground. Marth turned his attention to the Tarantula that Odd was fighting and leaped out to help. The Tarantula fired at him, but Marth was quicker and blocked the shots with his ax. He whirled around and threw his ax like a discus, causing it to slice through the Tarantula like a hot knife through butter, and it exploded.

"Cool!" Marth grinned as his ax came back to him. He caught it in one hand and marveled at his new abilities.

In the real world…

"_Five minutes to fire. Target acquired. Evacuate immediately…_" a robotic voice said as the satellite whirred and prepared the laser cannon…

Meanwhile, Ulrich, Yumi, and William were having a bit of a time with the trio of remaining Krabes. Each one had a Krabe to deal with, and the beasts were proving just to be a little more cunning than usual…

"Super Smoke!" William cried as he vanished and raced along the ground, swirling around the Krabe and trying to confuse it. It circled around, trying to fire at him, but William appeared to have finally gotten the upper hand as he raced underneath it and reformed, thrusting his Zweihander up through the Krabe's stomach until the tip pierced the Eye on its back. He yanked it out and ran, looking over his shoulder as it exploded.

"Sweet!" he grinned.

Ulrich was sprinting around his Krabe and it could not fire fast enough to hit him, nor could it lock on to him to even fire for that matter. It whirled around on its thin legs and finally stopped as it tried to orient itself. Ulrich used this as his chance to take it out, and smiled. "Triplicate!" he yelled as he split in three and ran around the Krabe. "Triangulate!" he and his clones added as they began to create a triangular shape around the Krabe. Before it could react, Ulrich had zoomed in and leapt on top of it, stabbing the Eye on its back and destroying the beast.

"That takes care of that," he sighed as he sheathed his sabre.

Yumi, however; was having a little more difficult time again. She was using her fans to deflect the blasts that the Krabe was firing at her, and was in the process of making a turn to face the Krabe when it clipped her with a laser blast.

"Ow!" she grunted as she skidded backwards, staying on her feet.

"_Yumi, thirty life points left!_" Jacob warned.

"I know," she breathed through gritted teeth as an idea suddenly came to her. She stopped and lowered her fans, placing her fingers on her temples and focusing on the Krabe. After a moment, a faint pinkish aura began to surround the beast, and it squealed as it was lifted off the ground. Yumi just turned and moved the floating Krabe until it was over the Digital Sea, and released it, dropping it down until the beam of light rose up and confirmed impact. Yumi just sighed and rubbed her head.

"Whew…" she breathed…

Meanwhile, Aelita was dealing with the last Tarantula. She slammed two Energy Fields together and absorbed the barrage of lasers that the Tarantula fired at her, but it was smart enough to fire again before she could recover, and blasted her shoulders and torso, knocking her to the ground at the edge of the ground. She gulped and looked over her shoulder to see the Digital Sea below her as the Tarantula prepared to fire again and finish the job.

"Oh, no you don't!" she heard as a battle cry came from behind the Tarantula. She saw a thick-bladed weapon slice through the beast's torso, and she watched it explode as Marth appeared from behind it. He walked over to her and reached out a hand to help her up.

"Told you I'd find out," he laughed playfully.

"Fine…" Aelita grumbled in mock frustration as everyone laughed.

"_Um, Aelita, I don't mean to rush you, but we're almost out of time,_" Jeremy reminded her as Aelita gasped and nodded before running for the Tower. She passed through and ran for the center of the platform., putting her head back as she levitated upward…

_5..._

AELITA

CODE:

_4…_

L

_3…_

Y

_2…_

O

_1…_

K

_Charge…_

O

"Tower deactivated," Aelita said as the screens fell around her. The satellite whirred slower and slower until it came to a stop, and the glow of the laser faded. The attack had been averted just in time.

"Whew…" Jeremy sighed as he tapped a few keys and started to bring the gang in…

Back in the Lab…

"Well, with XANA picking up his attacks again, and Kadic not stopping for us, I think everyone will agree with me when I say we need someone else in our group to help us fight. That way, not all of us ever have to go at any one time to stop a XANA attack," Jeremy explained. "Marth, I know it's a bit sudden, but if everyone agrees, would you want to join our group?"

"Absolutely!" he exclaimed in reply. "I want to help you guys save the world!"

"Great!" Jacob answered. "All in favor?"

"Aye!" the gang replied instantly. Marth just grinned widely and Jacob gave him a pat on the back.

"Well, this time I'm the one that gets to say it. Welcome to the club, man!" he said cheerfully as everyone clapped and grinned in approval…

LW94: And so, the newbie finds his place with the gang, and another XANA attack is averted! Stay tuned though, more surprises are along the way! READ AND REVIEW!


	16. Episode 111:  Rechristening

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**Episode 111: Rechristening**

It was around midnight and the gang was hanging out at the Factory. Odd and Ulrich were playing wallball with William, Aelita was instant messaging Yumi because she wasn't able to sneak out and get to the Factory, and Jeremy, Jacob, and Marth were working on the Skid's programming.

"Just a few more tweaks…" Jacob said as he launched the stabilization procedure. After a few moments, a green exclamation point appeared on his screen, and he pumped his fist in the air as Jeremy cheered, "Yes!" under his breath. "Told you we could do it, Einstein!" Jacob grinned as Odd caught the ball and walked over to see what was going on.

"What's up, Einstein?" he asked as Jeremy double-checked everything to make sure that in fact, their calculations had worked. He turned around and looked at Jacob, and then they both responded simultaneously in excitement:

"We fixed the Skid!" At this, Ulrich and Aelita turned around in surprise and Aelita ran over and hugged Jeremy tightly, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"I knew you guys would do it!" she grinned as Jeremy blushed in embarrassment.

"Now, let's see if we can't mess around with this here…" Jacob continued to mutter to himself as he tapped a few keys, and after a moment, a 3-D model of the Skid appeared where the Holomap usually was. He got up and walked over to the projection, tapping it in places and manipulating it until he had zoomed in on the midsection of the Skid where the five NavSkids were attached. He shifted them on the track until they were a little closer together and there was room for another NavSkid. He then tapped a few more keys and suddenly, a mesh of green wire framework appeared in the empty space. It warped and meshed together until it had formed the outline for a new NavSkid. Jacob finished by running a code sequence, and watched in satisfaction as the framework was covered and the outer shell of the NavSkid solidified. He tapped a key to finish the stabilization, and after a few more moments, he sat back and smiled as he turned to Marth. "There we go! Your own NavSkid, Marth!"

"Awesome!" Marth grinned.

"It looks even better than I remember it!" Aelita smiled as Odd and Ulrich pumped their fists in the air in joy.

"Sweet! Let's go swimming, Einstein!" Odd said enthusiastically, but Jeremy shook his head.

"It's not quite ready for travel yet," Jeremy told them. "Jake and I have to work on finishing the Navigation systems, and I'm going to try to recalibrate the SuperScan to pick out any Replikas that may have survived."

"Is it even possible?" Aelita asked in confusion. "I thought every trace of XANA was wiped out in the Network…" she said as suddenly the last piece of the puzzle clicked in Jeremy's head.

"That was the problem!" he exclaimed in bitter shock as Jacob snapped around and looked at his strangely. Jeremy just looked around in sudden recognition as his eyes glittered in frustration. "When I programmed the Multi-Agent System to work, I forgot to include Lyoko in the program! XANA was near-beaten, but he was still alive; hiding somewhere on Lyoko the whole time…" Jacob's mouth dropped open in stunned surprise as this realization hit.

"He was too weak to attack, to even make a move, but he was still alive, if only barely," Jacob realized as Jeremy nodded.

"Exactly. Anyways, it's possible that XANA could have disconnected some of his Supercomputers from the Internet to make sure they weren't affected by the Multi-Agent program…"

"So that means…" Aelita started softly.

"That we'll just have to track them down again. However, I do have some good news. The strength of XANA's signal from the Network is exponentially smaller than it ever was before my Multi-Agent System blasted through the Network. At best, I think he's only got a handful of Replikas left," Jeremy explained, at which Odd and Aelita sighed in relief.

"Well, that makes our job a little easier…" Ulrich commented.

"Oh, it absolutely does," Jeremy agreed. "It's less work we have to do."

"Well, there's no point in sulking about it all night, is there?" Aelita asked. The others shook their heads in agreement as she continued. "We can handle it tomorrow after we all get some rest," she finished as Jacob yawned slowly.

"Definitely," William agreed.

"Well, you guys go on without me; I'm going to run a few more tests with the Skid and work on a few more things here," Jeremy said.

"All right, but don't…"

"Drag your feet," Aelita finished for Jacob as Ulrich hit the button and the Lift doors closed.

"Sweet, I can't wait to be teleported," William grinned as Jacob gave him a funny look.

"William, you've been a Lyoko Warrior for longer than me and you _still_ treat it like a video game?" Jake asked sarcastically as William rolled his eyes.

"Wait, we're not supposed to treat it like a video game?" Marth asked in surprise as the rest of the gang laughed at him. He was slightly serious, but laughed at his own statement after a second as the gang got off the Lift and headed back towards the school…

The next morning…

"Hey guys," Jacob grinned as he joined the gang in the cafeteria at their usual table. Neither Marth nor Jeremy had shown up yet, but in Jeremy's case, it was pretty much understood that he had worked extremely late at the Factory. "Ready to go swimming tonight?" he asked with a sly grin as he sat down.

"You bet!" Odd exclaimed in anticipation. "I so can't wait!"

"Me either," William agreed. "I can't wait to finally get a chance to ride in mine," he laughed.

"I wonder what we're going to find," Aelita mused aloud. "The Network's probably way different than the last time we were in it," she added. Jacob nodded his head in agreement.

"I'm sure. But maybe, just maybe, we'll find something useful when we make our first trek into the Digital Sea," he replied.

"Return trek," Aelita laughed as Jacob scoffed playfully.

"True, but remember, for William, Marth, and I, it will be our first real trip."

"Try not to get seasick," Odd laughed.

"Odd!" Ulrich scowled. "Not funny!"

"Yes it was!" Odd countered as the rest of the gang laughed. A moment later, Yumi arrived, books in hand, and joined them at the table.

"Morning, everyone! I heard we're going for a swim tonight," she commented as Jacob and Aelita smiled.

"That's right," William smiled. "We can't wait!"

"Well…" Yumi hesitated slightly.

"It's just a scouting mission, Yumi. Nothing to worry over," Jacob reminded her.

"Guess not," she agreed. "Hey, where's Marth and Jeremy?" she asked suddenly.

"Um…Jeremy was at the Factory _really, really_ late last night, and we haven't seen Marth yet this morning," Aelita replied as she saw the flash from a pair of glasses heading their way. "Well, speaking of one," she grinned as Jeremy sat down next to her. "Hey, did you get _any_ sleep last night?" she asked Jeremy playfully as he kissed her on the cheek.

"Yeah, finally. Everything's ready to go!" he announced to the whole gang, smuiling as he did so. "We're going fishing tonight!" he grinned.

"Ha! That was actually a decent attempt, Einstein," Odd laughed. "So what time do you want to meet at the Factory?"

"After classes are over," Jeremy answered. "Then we have the entire afternoon to get reacquainted with the Network."

"Sounds good to me," Jacob answered as he got up. "I'm gonna head upstairs and get my stuff. See you guys in Science," he said cheerfully as he waved and walked towards the dorm building. Once he reached the boys' floor, he walked down to his dorm, and then walked over one more room, to a red-rimmed door, and knocked on it gently. It drifted open at his touch, and he peeked in to see Marth asleep on his bed, sprawled out with his mouth just slightly open. Jacob laughed under his breath and nudged Marth's shoulder gently. "Hey, redhead," he said gently as Marth began to stir. He rolled over to try and move, and ended up falling on his face. He hit the floor, and Jacob jumped back, startled, as Marth slowly crawled up. He was in red sleep pants and a neon orange shirt that didn't quite match but was okay nevertheless as his eyes focused and he saw Jacob standing there trying so hard not to laugh.

"Ow…" he muttered as he rubbed the spot on his head where it hit the floor and looked up sheepishly at Jacob.

"Well, I guess grace isn't high up on your list of talents, huh?" Jake laughed.

"Nope," Marth grinned. "So are we going out tonight?" he asked. Jacob nodded, and Marth smiled. "Sweet! I totally can't wait. You coming?" he asked, and Jacob shook his head. "Why not?"

"Well, it's a long story," Jacob began, "but the short version is that for some reason, I have an energy crystal embedded in my Lyoko form that can seriously amp up my powers. Problem is, I don't know how to control it, and I almost destroyed Lyoko by myself the last time I went in because I lost control of my powers. So for the moment until we find a way to stabilize my abilities, I'm here helping Jeremy on Earth." Marth nodded as he took all of that information in.

"Does it bother you? That you're stuck here, I mean? I don't mean to pry; I'm just curious."

"Um…it sucks that I can't be in there fighting," Jacob replied slowly, "but I know I'm helping just as much here, so it's not so bad," he added.

"Way to look on the bright side," Marth grinned. "Hey, I'll see you in class, okay?" he said as Jacob headed for the door.

"Might want to hurry," Jacob smiled. "Bell's gonna ring soon."

"I know!" Marth shot back playfully as he shut the door behind Jake.

Classes passed really quickly it seemed like; things even went smoothly for Marth. You could tell that everyone in the gang had one thing and one thing only on their minds: the Skid. Ulrich barely took notes in Mrs. Hertz's class for the first time in weeks; Odd couldn't stay focused, even during lunch. Jeremy couldn't pay attention at all in Gym, and got a lecture on his attention span from Jim. But, finally, the last bell rang and the gang met up at the crossroads. Marth and Jeremy finally looked wide-awake and ready to go, and Odd was bouncing from foot to foot impatiently as the gang waited on Yumi and William. A few moments later they arrived, and Odd sighed in relief.

"It's about time!" he scoffed impatiently. "We've been waiting!"

"Not long, though, Odd. I know your guys' schedule," Yumi laughed. "Are we ready to go?" she asked as Jeremy nodded.

"We're all here, and everything's up and ready! Let's go!" he exclaimed as the others cheered in excitement and the whole gang raced towards the park…

Once the gang arrived at the Factory, Jeremy and Jacob got off at the Computer Lab, and sent the rest of the group down to the Scanners. When they reached the bottom level, Jeremy's voice came over the intercom.

"Okay, now remember, this isn't going to be a risk-taking mission, okay? We're just going to do some exploring," he reminded them. "I'll start the procedure."

Transfer Odd, Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Yumi.

Scanner Odd, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Yumi.

Virtualization!

Transfer Aelita, Transfer Marth, Transfer William.

Scanner Aelita, Scanner Marth, Transfer William.

Virtualization!

A few moments later, the gang was virtualized on the platform in front of the elevator corridor in Sector Five. The elevator came down, and when it stopped, the group quickly rushed on. It shot upward until it reached the Skid hangar, and stopped to let the six of them off. The group got off and ran forward until they were all standing on a warp panel. Jeremy smiled and said:

"Energize." The six then vanished in pillars of light, and sparked with electricity a few moments later as each of them appeared in their own NavSkid; Aelita in the cockpit. She grabbed the controls gently, and Odd grinned.

"I thought I'd never get to ride in this thing again!" he exclaimed in excitement as Ulrich spoke.

"Hey, Marth, William, hang on tight. It might be a bumpy ride for you two," he warned as Aelita smiled.

"I certainly hope not," she said as she powered up the controls. "Vertical propulsion activated. Thrusters online. Cast off! Full steam ahead!" she finished as the Skid took off upward and came out of the hangar through the opening in the ceiling. Aelita flew the Skid out through the data tunnel leading to the Ice Sector, and then re-rotated the Skid to vertical so that she could begin the dive. The Skid dove down, paused just above the surface, and then dove into the Digital Sea.

A few moments later, the Access Gate opened and the Skid came out from Lyoko. Aelita rotated the ship to horizontal mode and fired the thrusters, powering the ship through the water and off on their journey.

"We're totally operational, Jeremy," Aelita confirmed as Jeremy sighed in relief and began tapping at the keyboard as Jacob looked on.

"Great, Aelita," he replied as he punched a few more keys. "HoloWeb system online," he added as the 3-D projection of the Network popped up on-screen. "Whoa…" he muttered as he looked at the projection and then at the visual that Aelita had just sent him. The Network looked a lot different from the last time they had been there. The general look; the upside down city with all the hubs and everything was still there, but the placing of everything was totally different from the last time they had been through.

"Looks like the Network's changed a lot," Aelita commented.

"Yeah, definitely," Jeremy agreed as Aelita continued to move through the water. All of a sudden, a red exclamation point popped up on Jeremy's screen and the computer began to beep rapidly as the sea around them turned blood-red… "Aelita! You've got company ahead of you!" he warned, but Aelita was already one step ahead of him.

"I'm on it, Jeremy!" she shot back quickly as she tapped a couple of keys on her keypad. "Guys, it's your turn to take the controls," she informed them, and Ulrich took about three seconds to explain the controls to Marth and William. "Release!" she said as she hit one more button, and the electric braces connecting the NavSkids to the Skid itself separated and released the five Warriors, who zoomed off to face the school of monsters that XANA had sent them. Ahead of them were a trio of Kongres, two Sharks, a Kalamar, and a snake-like monster swimming in the center of the school with electricity coursing through its translucent teal body with an Eye of XANA on its forehead.

"Hey, what's the eel-looking thing?" Ulrich asked. "Never seen it before."

"Well, I'd rather not find out," Yumi shot back. "Fire torpedoes!" she yelled as she blasted a barrage of torpedoes at the monsters. She managed to impact two of the Kongres and they exploded in a flash of yellow light and metal bits.

"Nice shot, Yumi!" Odd complimented.

"Hey, squid-face!" William yelled as he and Marth circled around the giant Kalamar. It decided William looked like good prey, and latched onto him, prepping its drill when Marth got to it, and at such close range, the result was interesting enough…

"Fire!" Marth yelled as he blasted off a laser shot at the Kalamar, which smasghed into two of its legs, deflected into the drill, and conducted itself through the Kalamar's body until it screeched in agony and exploded in a flash of red light. William righted his direction and stopped beside Marth.

"_Thanks for the save, man,_" he said over the com-link.

"No prob," Marth replied.

"Okay, you ugly eel," Odd taunted. "Come and get me!" he yelled as the eel swam at him. Odd thought he could get a close range shot off, but the eel was too quick for him and shot a jolt of electricity at him, sending the current through the Skid and causing Odd to get a nasty shock too. "Ow!" he yelped as he drew back. "That hurt!" he yelled as he began to chase after the Eel. "Laser beam!" he cried as he fired the lasers at the Eel. It managed to evade his first shot, but the second caught it by surprise and hit it right in the head. It shrieked as it writhed in the water before exploding into a pile of teal fish guts and disappearing. Odd just grinned as he looped back around.

"That's what I'm talking about! Take that, XANA!" he cheered.

Once Ulrich and Yumi had managed to dispatch the two Sharks and the remaining Kongre, all five Warriors returned to the Skid, and Aelita tapped a few keys as they pulled in to dock.

"Recovery," she said as the braces relocked onto the Skid. "Well, that's everyone!" she told a relieved Jeremy as she began to plot a course for home. "You want us to head back to Lyoko?" she asked Jeremy as he double-checked something on his screens.

"No, hold on, I was able to reprogram the SuperScan to pick up any DNA traces on the Network. I can't pinpoint who it belongs to, but there's an energy source with a signal on a crash course for the Lyoko access gate! I've programmed its coordinates into the Skid's navigation program. Follow it!" he finished as Aelita rotated the Skid and put the throttle to maximum.

"Full speed ahead!" she said as they zoomed back towards Lyoko. As they approached, Aelita saw a streak of light in the sea ahead of them, and said to Jeremy: "I see it! It's a beam of light and it's dead ahead!"

"Catch it!" Jeremy said excitedly.

"Trying!" Aelita shot back, but then the Skid lurched to a dead halt and a shock wave went through the whole thing. "Ungh!" Aelita groaned as movement ceased and the light vanished ahead of them.

"What happened, Princess?" Odd asked as he reoriented his head.

"It's a firewall!" Aelita shot back as the sea turned red again. Aelita looked ahead of her and saw the Eye of XANA glowing on it. "Behind us, too!" she growled as she looked back. "We're trapped!"

"Oh, no…" William muttered as Jacob looked at Jeremy in the Lab.

"That's not good…" he commented.

"No, it's not," Jeremy agreed. "If they stay trapped there too long, the Digital Sea will dissolve the Skid and them along with it… We have to deactivate the Firewall somehow," Jeremy said as he pulled up his Hacking Program. "Lemme try and hack it…" he said as he tried to find a combination that would break the Firewall. After a few moments, he looked at Jacob in frustration. "Nothing. I can't get it to hack!" he growled as Aelita mulled over an idea. "And there's not an activated Tower controlling it…" he muttered as Aelita let out a "Hmm" from the cockpit.

"What is it, Aelita?" Jacob asked as Aelita backed up the Skid as far as it would go. When she ran into the back Firewall, she powered up the shields and said into the mic:

"Everyone, fasten your seatbelts." At this, Jeremy gulped.

"What're you going to—?" Jeremy never got a chance to finish his sentence as Aelita gunned the throttle to maximum and shot forwards into the front Firewall with enough force to shatter it and lurch them forwards. The sea converted back to its usual teal color, and Jeremy just sighed in relief as another problem had been averted. "That was some great inventive thinking, Aelita," Jeremy grinned as she came up to the Access Gate for Lyoko. Jeremy input the Access Key and the Gate opened. Aelita then flew the Skid into the tunnel and back through the North Pole of Sector Five until she was descending into the hangar. She docked the Skid and let the magnetic clamps attach.

"Docking sequence complete," she finished as she sat back in her seat and released the controls. "We're ready, Jeremy!" she added.

"Okay," he replied. "I'll bring you all in!"

De-Energize Odd, De-Energize Ulrich, De-Energize Yumi.

De-Energize Marth, De-Energize William, De-Energize Aelita.

Materialization Odd, Materialization Ulrich, Materialization Yumi!

Materialization Marth, Materialization William, Materialization Aelita!

Once the others were safely back in the Lab, Jeremy ran a diagnostics check on the Skid to ensure that nothing had been damaged and then turned to face the group.

"Well, we've now proved that the Skid is totally functional. The bad news, the SuperScan has picked up traces of Replika activity in the Network. It seems that XANA's beginning to reconnect his Replikas to the Internet to draw power from them."

"So it'll be up to us to go and blast them to pieces again, right, Einstein?" Odd asked.

"Yes. As soon as I have the Translation program up, we'll track down the closest Replika and start taking them out," Jeremy replied. "The good news is: There aren't nearly as many as there were beforehand, so it should be a little easier for us!"

"Boy do I hope so…" Ulrich sighed as Odd laughed and patted him on the back.

LW94: Let there be Replikas!

Jeremy: (slyly) For now.

Odd: That's right! Soon, there won't be any cause us Warriors are gonna blast them all to bits!

LW94: We'll see about that! Haha! **READ AND REVIEW!**


	17. Episode 112:  Forest of Fear

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**Episode 112: Forest of Fear**

Two days later, Jacob and Jeremy were at the Factory, still working on a few finishing touches to the Translation procedure, but the rest of the gang was enjoying a peaceful day at Kadic…

"So, Ulrich, how're things going at home?" Aelita asked him curiously.

"Not bad," he replied with a faint smile. "Considering my grades are up and my dad's happy. I think he's going to let me stay at Kadic on a long-term basis now."

"Yes!" Odd grinned as he pumped his fist in the air. "Victory for the Lyoko Warriors!"

"What about you?" Ulrich replied. "Jeremy chilling out a little more?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow at the pinkette. She smiled before she replied, choosing her words carefully.

"We're getting there. He's…still stretching himself way too thin, but he's trying, at least," she sighed as Odd nodded.

"Good for him, Princess," he replied. "It's about time he figured out what's really important."

"No kidding," William agreed as the whole gang chuckled. "Hey, when do we know about exams? I know they're still a little ways off, but…"

"Um…I think they'll hand out the dates next week," Aelita responded. "I can't believe that it's already the last quarter of the school year!" she added.

"No kidding," Yumi muttered.

"I know…" Ulrich responded. "Time just flies by too quickly, doesn't it?"

"True that," Marth agreed.

"Hey, why don't we all head out for lunch?" Yumi asked. "We can call Jeremy and Jacob and have them meet us," she added as Odd smiled.

"You know I'm always up for food!" he grinned.

"I could go for a meal," William smiled.

"Then let's—" Aelita was cut off by a ring from her pocket. She pulled out her phone and looked at the little screen quickly before answering it. "Hello?"

"_Aelita, it's me_," Jeremy said through the raspy connection. "_Bring everyone and meet me at the Factory ASAP_!" he said, and you could hear the grin in his voice as he continued, "_It's ready_!" Aelita just shook her head for a moment before grinning sincerely and realizing what those two simple words meant.

"You got it, Jeremy," she replied. "We'll be there," she added as she hung up and turned to the others, who waited in anticipation before she spoke. Odd, ever the impatient one; finally broke the silence.

"What is it, Princess?" he asked eagerly. Aelita just smiled mysteriously as she held her breath, enjoying the fact that she knew and they didn't.

"Okay, come on; you're killing us, Aelita!" Marth groaned in mock frustration as Aelita laughed and finally spoke.

"It's ready," she finally grinned as Odd and William jumped and pumped their fists in the air.

"Wahoo! Let's go!" Odd grinned as the gang raced for the park sewer entrance…

When they arrived at the Factory a few minutes later, everyone gathered around Jacob and Jeremy in the Computer Lab as they prepared to embark on what could be considered their biggest mission since XANA's return. It was time to mount a counterattack…

"So, gang, here's the plan," Jeremy began as they listened intently. "We're going to take the Skid out for a real mission this time. I've been working on the SuperScan, and I've been able to remodify it to pick up the Replikas on the Network, because as you all are aware, I've been picking up Replika activity. So, on to the good news. I've found and isolated the coordinates of the first Replika we need to destroy. It's a little ways from Lyoko, but it's the closest one I've found so far. Jacob and I finally got the Translation program fully running again, so we'll be sending three of you to go and destroy the Supercomputer."

"Aye aye, Einstein," Ulrich grinned as Odd began to whine.

"So, who gets to be Translated?" he complained as Jeremy shook his head.

"Aelita will go, because she has priority over everyone for this first mission, and as for the other two, I think Marth and William need to go because they haven't had the experience of being Translated yet."

"Awww!" Odd groaned.

"Don't worry, Odd, you'll get your chance," Aelita smiled as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

"So, are we all ready?" Jacob asked. When he got nods from every head, he smiled and turned to Jeremy. "Let's send 'em on," he grinned.

Transfer Odd, Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Yumi.

Scanner Odd, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Yumi.

Virtualization!

Transfer William, Transfer Marth, Transfer Aelita.

Scanner William, Scanner Marth, Scanner Aelita.

Virtualization!

A few seconds later, the gang arrived in the elevator room of Sector Five. They raced forwards and stopped when the elevator met them. They quickly jumped on it, and it began to rise towards the Skid dock. When it arrived, the gang ran forward until they reached their transport spots and stood on them as they waited for Jeremy to work his magic.

"Energize," he said as he pressed one more key and they disappeared in columns of white light. A few seconds later, they each appeared in their respective seats in a crackle of electricity, and Aelita smiled as she took the controls gently in her hands.

"Are we ready to go?" she asked.

"Roger," William replied.

"Ready, Princess," Odd grinned in anticipation.

"Then we're off!" Aelita said excitedly. "Full steam ahead!" she said as the docking mechanisms released the Skid and it shot upwards and out of the hangar. It exited through the North Pole of Sector Five and shot down until it was directly above the surface of the Digital Sea. Aelita waited just a moment before hitting the throttle and diving in. A few seconds later, the Access Gate opened, and the Skid shot out into the blue-green waters of the Network. Jeremy sighed in relief as he pulled up the Holomap of the Network, and tapped a few keys, pulling up the navigation system as he did so.

"I'm inputting the coordinates of the Replika into the navigation system. There's a data hub not far from your current position that you can use to make time," he added as the system beeped in response.

"Okay Jeremy; we've got the coordinates," Aelita confirmed as she steered the ship west towards the data hub. All of a sudden, the Sea began to change, and everything glowed red as Jeremy's screens began to blip with alert messages.

"Guys, you've got company!" Jeremy warned as Aelita saw a school of four Sharks heading for them. "Aelita, release the NavSkids!"

"Release!" Aelita commanded as she typed the command into the keypad. A moment later, the five NavSkids detached from the main body of the Skid and zoomed off to meet the advancing Sharks.

"Here, fishy, fishy, fishy!" Odd taunted as he broke off to attack one of the Sharks, who followed him away from the school. It growled and opened its mouth, firing a torpedo at Odd's NavSkid. "Shield!" he yelled as he activated the barrier to protect his NavSkid. The torpedo exploded against it in a flash of yellow light, but Odd came through it unscathed as he locked onto the Shark. "Bombs away!" he cried as he launched a pair of his own torpedoes at the Shark. It was just quicker, though, and managed to avoid his shots, swerving as it screeched and fired at him again. "Oh no, you don't!" Odd yelled as he took evasive action and made a sharp turn to get out of the way. "Laser blast!" he yelled as he fired a volley of lasers at the Shark, and these shots found their mark, slamming into the Eye on the Shark's head and destroying it. "Yeah!" Odd cheered as he swerved around.

"Come and get us!" Marth growled as he and Ulrich swerved around a pair of Sharks, who squealed before splitting up to try and wipe out their prey. The first came around to the side of Marth's NavSkid and rammed into it, sending him flying backwards. "Ungh!" he growled as he righted himself and zoomed back towards the Shark. "Fire!" he yelled as he blasted his laser cannons at the Shark. It maneuvered out of the way and zipped around to his side, opening its jaws and clamping down on the fin of the NavSkid and tearing until Marth heard an ugly screeching noise. "Uh…William!" he yelled as William heard this and swerved around to help. He zoomed towards Marth with the second Shark hot on his tail, and his fingers raced over the controls as he prepared to attack.

"Fire!" William hissed as he launched a laser blast at the Shark, who could not get itself dislodged in time to avoid the blasts. It exploded, and William looped around Marth, who sighed in relief.

"Thanks for that," he said as the other Shark came at them. "Look out!" Marth yelled as he tried to fire, but before he could, a torpedo raced across the water and hit the Shark, which squealed before it exploded in a cloud of yellow dust. Ulrich powered towards them and stopped as Marth and William moved forward. He smiled form his cockpit and spoke over the com-link.

"You didn't think I'd leave you to be fish food, did you?" he asked with a grin.

"Thanks Ulrich; you were a great help," William said gratefully. Once Yumi had dispatched the last Shark, the gang returned to the Skid and aligned themselves as Aelita's fingers ran over the keys.

"Recovery," she said as the electric braces locked onto the Skid. Once all the NavSkids were secure, the gang took off, and a few minutes later, they arrived at a Data Hub. The hub itself was swirling with orange fluid, and it was eerily hypnotic to look at as Aelita rotated the Skid into vertical mode and prepared to make the plunge.

"Everyone ready? Hyperfluid aspiration in three seconds. Two, one, hyperdrive!" she finished calmly as the Skid plunged into the hurricane of orange light…

A few moments later, the Skid blasted out of another data tunnel and Aelita began rapidly hitting buttons on her keypad.

"Retro Brake!" she cried as she threw the brake and the Skid slowed with a jolt. Once the gang was back to a safe speed, Aelita maneuvered the Skid through a few tight tunnels until the gang came to the entrance to the Replika. Aelita rotated the Skid into vertical mode before she spoke again. "Jeremy, we're here!" she informed him as he smiled.

"Great! I'll let you in!" he said as his fingers raced masterfully across the keyboard. Within a matter of a few seconds, he had broken the lock and sent the key program to the Skid. "It's all yours, Aelita."

"Digital Key engaged," Aelita said as a beam of light shot out from the top of the Skid. The Access Gate flashed in response as the lock slid down and the tunnel opened.

"Hey, I wonder what sector this Replika has," Odd mused.

"What?" Marth asked in confusion.

"A Replika only has one Sector on it instead of five like Lyoko has," Ulrich explained. "Every one that we've seen has been a copy of a Lyoko Sector, but Jacob thinks there might be others out there now that XANA's powers have begun to increase."

"Oh, okay, I get it. What happens once we're inside?"

"That's where we come in," Jacob replied. "Jeremy and I will teleport you to the location of the Replika's Supercomputer on Earth, and you'll have to destroy it. The three that are going are you, William, and Aelita."

"Sweet!" Marth smiled as the Skid floated through the Access Tunnel. A few moments later, it erupted from the Digital Sea, and as the gang ascended towards the surface of the Replika, Yumi looked around to see a green glow from the Digital Sea below them, and a bunch of tree roots protruding into the water as well.

"Jeremy, it's a copy of the Forest Sector!" she observed.

"I know," Jeremy replied. "At least it's an area we know well," he added as Aelita now flew over dry land towards the nearest Tower. She hovered as she halted next to it, and ran her fingers over the control pad as she entered a command.

"Docking…" she muttered as swirls of pink light surrounded the Tower, and after a moment, Jeremy activated it and its aura changed from white to green. "Skid secured," Aelita said as she sat back calmly in her seat.

"Are you ready, guys? And girl," Jeremy added hastily when Aelita scowled playfully. "Here we go!"

Teleportation Marth, Teleportation William, Teleportation Aelita.

A minute or so later, the trio appeared in a flash of light and dropped neatly onto the ground below them with all of their powers intact. They looked at each other, seeing their Lyoko forms in the real world, and Marth and William grinned.

"Cool!" they both said simultaneously as Aelita observed their surroundings.

"Jeremy, we're in a forested area, but it's not the same as the one we visited where the first Forest Replika supercomputer was. It's not the Amazon," Aelita finished as Jeremy tried to get a GPS fix.

"I know. It's definitely not the Amazon. Hold on a sec and I'll tell you where you are," he added as his GPS scanner finally zeroed in on the trio's location. "Well, mates, it looks like you've gone down under!" Jeremy laughed in his best fake Australian accent. "You're in the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, Australia," he finished as Aelita and William turned and saw a lab of sorts a few hundred meters away from them.

"We've found the lab. Do you want us to head in?" William asked.

"Go ahead. I'll download a floorplan and give you a hand once you're inside."

Meanwhile, on Lyoko, Jacob had remotely energized Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd onto the Replika to defend the Skid, but weirdly enough, everything seemed quiet. Almost…

"It's quiet. _Too_ quiet," Ulrich commented as he looked around. "Jacob, what's going on?" he asked instinctively as Jacob scanned the Replika for signs of anything unusual.

"It's weird…" Jacob said back in confusion. "There's _nothing_ on the Replika!"

"Nothing?" Odd asked in shock. "No monsters at all?"

"No. I don't get it…" Jacob trailed off as suddenly, an alarm went off on his screen. "Wait. XANA has activated a Tower on the Replika, but he hasn't sent anything to guard it at all. I wonder what in the world he's up to…" Jacob wondered…

Back at the Forest Base, Aelita, Marth and William had infiltrated through the back entrance, and Jeremy had managed to deactivate the alarms so that they could sneak in undetected. His report said that the base had been long abandoned, but with XANA, you never took any chances…

"_Okay, take a right here_," Jeremy instructed as the trio turned and entered a large room with a dusty metal container attached to a conveyor belt that appeared to have been an assembly line back when the building was still in use. Aelita walked around to investigate, and Marth walked to the conveyor belt. He brushed a finger through the thick dust, and suddenly, the machine whirred to life, nearly giving Marth a heart attack as he jumped backwards in shock.

"Marth, what did you do?" William asked as he drew his Zweihander. Marth drew his ax as well as the trio heard a buzzing noise from the bowels of the machine. It got louder and louder, and Aelita took a nervous step backwards as suddenly, a swarm of Hornets; honest to goodness Lyoko Hornets; shot out of the machine and swarmed together, facing down the three Warriors.

"Uh, Jeremy…" Aelita said uncertainly. "We've got a small problem here…" she said.

"XANA's managed to materialize a bunch of Hornets into the base!" Marth yelled as the bugs came at them. "RUN!" he screeched as the three friends turned tail and ran for the door they had come in. William stopped and wheeled around to face the bugs, who charged their lasers and began to blast a rain of lasers at him. He managed to evade the shots with some deft footwork, and charged his sword quickly as he stared the swarm down.

"Take this!" he grunted as he swung his Zweihander and sent an unavoidable wave of energy at the bugs. When it hit, three of them exploded, but more came from down the hallway to replace the ones William had beaten, and he was forced to run and catch up with Aelita and Marth. The trio managed to turn into a service corridor, and caught their breath as the swarm flew by them.

"Now what?" Aelita panted in a whisper as Jeremy finally spoke to them again.

"_You guys made a good move without even knowing it_!" he commented happily. "My floorplan says there's another way to access the control room from where you are. Follow the corridor. It'll take you to the basement," he added as the trio took off down the corridor…

Meanwhile, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were having a fairly uneventful time on the Replika as Jacob still tried to figure out why no monsters had appeared on the Replika…

"I just can't figure it out!" he grunted as he ran another scan of the Replika. "Everything says this Replika is 100% normal!" All of a sudden, a rapid beeping distracted him, and he pulled up a window looking back on the readings from Lyoko… "Oh no…" he said quickly as he patched into Aelita's com-link. "Aelita, get out of there now! We're aborting the Replika mission!"

"Why, Jacob?" Aelita asked quickly as she stopped cold. Jacob sighed as he made his comment to all six Warriors.

"XANA's attacking the Core!" he said frantically.

"I knew it!" Ulrich hissed. "It was all a distraction! A trap!"

"Yes, it was," Jacob agreed. "Get back to the Skid now! We've got to get you six back home!"

Meanwhile, on Lyoko, a squad of Mantas was blasting away at the Core's shield layers, and the first one fragmented under the increasing intensity of the blasts before turning into a red laser matrix and exploding away…

"First shield layer's gone!" Jacob screeched. "Get out of there _fast_!"

"On three," Aelita said as she charged her Energy Fields and William and Marth readied their weapons. "One…two…three!"

A few seconds later, the trio was back in their respective seats in the Skid, and Jacob transported the other three into it as he took the controls from the Lab and navigated the Skid out of the Replika. Aelita woke up a few seconds later and took the controls herself, putting the throttle to maximum as she headed at a breakneck pace for Lyoko…

After five breathless minutes where Jeremy and Jacob watched the second shield layer weaken tremendously, they breathed a shared sigh of relief when Aelita opened Lyoko's Access Gate and screamed into Lyoko, heading for the Skid hangar. They docked, and immediately, Jeremy had the six of them energized out of the Skid and racing for the entrance to the Core room…

"Hurry, guys! The last shield layer's about to give!" he said in a panic as Aelita hit the Key to open the door to the Core room. The six Warriors dashed up the spiral staircase, and Ulrich hurled one of his sabres at a Manta, hitting his mark perfectly and causing the others to turn and see what had destroyed their friend. When they saw the Lyoko Warriors, they screeched and came after them, firing a barrage of lasers.

"Oh no, you don't!" Odd yelled as he jumped onto the wall and launched off of it towards a Manta. "Bonzai!" he screamed as he dug his claws into its back and tore at its Eye. It screamed and writhed in pain as Odd dove off it and back to safety before it exploded. William vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared behind another Manta, creating smoke reins to wrap around it and immobilize it before hurling his Zweihander into its back and watching grimly as it exploded. Yumi used her fans to take out two more of the Mantas, and Marth and Aelita double-teamed the last one as the six Warriors gathered at the top platform where the bridge led out to the Core. Aelita accessed the Interface and did a quick scan to make sure everything was in order, and once she had confirmed that nothing was out of the ordinary, Jeremy brought the gang home…

"Well, this is just lovely…" Jacob grumbled. "XANA exploited us by attacking multiple targets. He knew just how to stop us from taking out the Replika…"

"So what do we do…?" Marth asked aloud as Jeremy simply nodded.

"Simple," he said. "We have to divide and conquer."

"Easier said than done, genius," Ulrich reminded him. "Remember, as of right now, Aelita's still the only one who can deactivate Towers. Unless you plan on going to Lyoko from now on…" When Jeremy shook his head in disagreement, Ulrich let a slight smirk cross his face. "That's what I thought," he said simply.

"So…what, then?" William asked. "We can't just stand by and let XANA walk all over us. Figuratively speaking, of course," he added as Jacob chuckled.

"Well, it just means we need to come up with a new plan…" Jacob said in response. "We need to outsmart XANA. And I might have an idea as to how to do it…"

LW94: And the plot thickens again…stay tuned, because we are now only…I think nine episodes away from the end of Season Five! And yes, that implies there will be more! READ AND REVIEW!


	18. Episode 113:  Close Combat

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**Author's Note: Sorry guys…I've been really, really sick with a flu-bug of some sort that's left me about useless for the past few days. I feel bad for keeping everyone waiting; I really do. Went to the doctor today and got put on meds, but still don't feel great. Expect a new update or two by next week sometime. I'll try and work around catching up on my schoolwork and publishing, but I can't guarantee anything until I get my workload back. But I promise I haven't forgotten about you readers or this fic. It's just been a weird set of circumstances. More to come…**

**Author's Note 2: I am so sorry it's taken this long to get a stupid chapter up, guys! Between getting better and AP exams and catching up on school work, I haven't had much time to write. But, here it is; the next installment of Code Lyoko: Reloaded! Get ready to have a lot of questions pop up, and one or two answered…maybe…**

**Episode 113: Close Combat**

"Morning, Einsteins!" Odd said playfully as he popped into Jeremy's room, where Jeremy, Jacob, and Aelita were huddled around Jeremy's laptop discussing something, but turned around and smiled when he came in.

"Morning, Odd," Aelita said with a smile. "How is our favorite feline hero this morning?" she asked with a playful smirk as Odd laughed.

"Doing just fine, thank you; I just…"

"Oh, don't encourage him, Aelita; his ego's already too big for his head as it is!" Jacob laughed as Odd playfully swatted at him.

"My ego is not big!" Odd shot back with a fake pout.

"Oh, yes it is, ya braggart!" Jacob argued with a huge smile as Jeremy and Aelita laughed.

"Ok, now _that_ is a compliment," Odd said as he gave a small flourish and bow.

"Oh, stop, you two…" Jeremy sighed as he shook his head and smiled. The four of them heard the first bell ring, and Odd immediately jumped up off of Jeremy's bed.

"My favorite sound in the morning; the breakfast bell!" he cheered as he ran for the cafeteria, leaving the three brainiacs in his dust…

When the four of them had made it through the line and Odd had talked his way in to getting an extra helping, as usual, they sat down and it was about that time that the rest of the gang joined them for breakfast.

"Morning, everyone," William said sleepily as he sat down in between Marth and Yumi.

"Morning," they all replied as Odd wolfed his food down in the background.

"So, who's _not_ looking forward to a day of boring as heck classes?" Marth asked in mock sarcasm, getting a hand raise and a mumbled groan from everyone. "Well, I guess we're all in agreement," he chuckled.

"I just think it's really stupid that we have to have a World Culture lesson in History today," Ulrich commented. "I really don't see the point…" he grumbled in complaint.

"Well, I know it seems weird, but wait it out and we'll see," Jeremy said in reply. "Who knows? Maybe we'll learn something from it."

"True…" Ulrich replied.

"So, Jeremy, have the three of you had any luck in figuring out a plan to help us fight XANA any more effectively?" Yumi asked before taking a bite of food.

"Maybe…" Jacob replied as Jeremy was busy eating. "We're trying to develop a program that will allow us to merge a single hair of Aelita's with each of you during the virtualization process. If it works, that would give all of you a strand of her DNA sequence and allow me to program the ability to deactivate Towers into all of you. But all of the theoretical calculations we've done so far haven't turned up anything. So, I guess we're no closer than we were before," he sighed.

"Maybe, but at least you have a plan," Marth reassured him. "That's something, right?"

"True," Jacob agreed. "I just wish I had a little more good news," Jacob said as the warning bell rang.

"Now there's something that's never good news," Odd laughed. "Let's get this over with…" he said as everyone groaned and headed for their respective classes…

In Science…

"Okay, class, sit down please," Mrs. Hertz said as the class slowly got quiet and pulled out their binders. "Today we'll be looking at antimatter. Now…" Jacob let himself slowly zone out for probably the first time ever in class as he opened his laptop and began to work diagnostics and programs for some of the stuff on Lyoko. He had already gotten these notes online anyways, so he pulled them up off to the side in case he was asked a question. Taking a glance up to make sure Mrs. Hertz was focused on her lecture and not really paying attention to him, he began tinkering with upgrading the gang's profiles when suddenly; a window appeared on his screen.

"_Hello? Is anyone out there_?" it said. Jacob's fingers raced across the keyboard as he quietly typed a response.

"Yes, this is Jacob. Who are you? How can I help?" he typed in reply.

"_I'm trapped. I need help! Please, someone come rescue me! My name is…_" the words stopped as Jacob's screen flickered, and then one more line of text appeared.

"_Do not attempt to find us_," it warned as the window disappeared, and as the pieces fit together in Jacob's head, his vision began to blur in stunned shock and he nearly fell out of his chair as he signaled under his desk to Jeremy and Aelita with both index fingers pointed towards each other. He rotated them around one another and then made a pushing motion away from his body with rapid speed. Their eyes widened and they immediately understood as they gave a look to Ulrich and Marth, who got the message. Jacob, meanwhile; his head reeling, nearly fell to the ground as he got up and raised his hand.

"Mrs. Hertz, can I…go to the infirmary?" he asked with a slight stammer as he rubbed his temples. "I'm really not feeling well," he said quietly.

"Yes, Jacob, go on. You do look a little peaked," she commented as Jeremy and Aelita steadied Jacob and led him out into the hall. Once the trio had rounded the corner, they waited for a minute or two until Ulrich and Marth met with them, having been excused to go to the restroom, and they began to quickly head for the school gates and the park sewer entrance. Once they were clear of the grounds and knew they wouldn't be discovered, Aelita finally spoke.

"We know Yumi and William have a test in Political Science, so they won't be able to meet us. Why didn't we get Odd?" she asked in slight confusion.

"Because…he needs the seat time. He's all but failing; we don't need Delmas to have an excuse to transfer him or something," Jacob panted as he raced ahead and opened the manhole, climbing down behind the rest of the gang. Only once they had started through the tunnels on their scooters and skateboards did Jeremy ask the question that everyone had been wondering.

"So…what's going on, exactly, Jacob?" he asked. "I didn't receive any sort of alert…"

"You wouldn't have," Jacob replied breathlessly and nervously. "For some reason, it came directly to me. It was an email message. And I think it came from…"

"Who?" Aelita asked as Jacob said what he was most worried about…

"Your mom, Aelita," he replied as her eyes widened and they raced for the Factory…

Once they were on the bridge, they swung down to the Lift and Jeremy mashed the button to take them down. The Lift stopped at the Lab and Jeremy and Jacob got off first; the others close behind as they quickly checked the monitors.

"Well, we've got double trouble. XANA's activated a Tower on the Forest Replika!" he exclaimed as he scanned the second screen. "And there's a mysterious digital signature by the Tower! We might just have found her! I'll virtualize you and you can take the Skid straight there!" he said as the three Warriors headed for the Scanner Room…

Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Marth, Transfer Aelita!

Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Marth, Scanner Aelita!

Virtualization!

A few seconds later, the trio virtualized into the elevator corridor and ran forward until they were at the end of the path. The elevator swung down to meet them, and when it stopped, the three of them jumped on and waited as it shot up to the Skid Hangar. It stopped, and they got off and sprinted over to their teleport pads.

"Energize!" Jeremy said as they all vanished in bright columns of white light. They appeared after a moment in their Skid seats amid a static crackle and Aelita took the controls. Before Jeremy could even say another word, Aelita had already said "Cast off!" and released the Skid from the Hangar, causing Ulrich and Marth to be thrust back in their seats.

"Ow! Aelita…" Ulrich started to groan.

"Sorry, guys," Aelita said apologetically as she exited the North Pole and flew the Skid into the Digital Sea. A few moments later, the Skid shot out of the Access Tunnel. Aelita mumbled, "Rotation," and as soon as the Skid was horizontal, she put the throttle to max and shot off like a bullet towards the Access Hub which would take them across the Network to the Replika.

"_Aelita, you do know that you can't get there any faster than it's taking you_?" Jacob asked as she gritted her teeth.

"Well, we have to hurry," she replied. "If there's even a chance that my mom's alive…" She didn't finish her sentence as she came up on the Data Hub. She rotated the Skid into vertical position and started the countdown from three before diving into the orange Hyperfluid…

A few seconds later, the Skid blasted out of the data tunnel and jolted to a stop when Aelita threw the Retro Brake. She coasted slightly gentler until she came up on the Access Gate, but stopped when the sea changed from calm blue to blood-red…

"XANA's attacking!" she hissed before Jeremy could spit it out. "Release!" she cried as Ulrich and Marth blasted back around towards the Eels which had been tracking them.

"Want to tag team?" Ulrich asked as Marth growled in anticipation.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," he grunted in response as they zipped around and each took responsibility of an Eel. "XANA, it's time you learned to leave us alone!" Marth hissed as he blasted a barrage of torpedoes at the Eel. It gave almost a toothy grin as it slithered through the oncoming barrage and went for Marth. Ulrich, who was having at it with his own Eel, was suddenly jolted spinning and shook violently in his NavSkid as something impacted it. Hard.

"Ow!" he yelled as he spun the wheel to get it righted. "Marth, I think you hit me by mistake! Watch it!" Ulrich warned as he blasted a volley of lasers at his Eel, blasting it into oblivion as he swerved around next to Marth and blasted the second Eel into smithereens after a moment. Marth nodded gratefully as the two of them headed back to the Skid.

"Recovery," Aelita muttered as the NavSkids reattached and she zoomed off towards the Access Gate. She punched in the Digital Key and waited nervously as the gate opened; not nearly as fast as she wanted it to though. As soon as it had, she blasted through the Access Tunnel and headed up out of the Digital Sea. The Skid exploded out of the water, sending sparkling green drops and ripples everywhere as Aelita zoomed towards a Tower to dock the Skid. She came up on it and hovered next to it as she waited anxiously for Jeremy to dock the Skid.

"Docking," he said as the pink whirls of light began to surround the top of the Tower and the Skid was docked. "Disembarking," she added as she rapidly punched a couple of keys and sat back in her seat as she, Ulrich, and Marth vanished in a flicker of sparks to appear moments later on the surface of the Forest Replika. Aelita tensed up as she looked around, waiting for something to happen.

"Jeremy, what do you see? It's quiet where we are," she commented as her eyes flitted around anxiously.

"Uh…that DNA signature is right in front of the activated Tower; and the Tower is due north of where you are right now." Jeremy didn't even have to tell them to head for it as Aelita immediately rushed off. Ulrich and Marth just looked at one another and shrugged, following close behind her as suddenly Aelita stopped cold. Marth nearly ran into her, but put the brakes on just in time as Aelita realized how stupid she had been.

"Hey, Jeremy, can we have our vehicles?" she asked as Jeremy laughed out loud.

"I was wondering when you'd ask," he chuckled as he virtualized Aelita's Overwing, the Overbike, and a new vehicle that resembled a ruby-red, teardrop-shaped, bullet-like pod with a pair of hovering wheels, one on each side, and a pair of speed boosters on the back like Ulrich's Overbike had for an extra boost if need be. It was adorned down the sides with iridescent black and orange flames, and it looked _cool_. "Marth, this last one's yours," Jeremy explained as Marth ran a finger down the side. "I call it the Overblast," he smiled as Marth hopped in the seat.

"This thing is freaking sweet, Jeremy!" Marth grinned as Aelita jumped on her Overwing and tapped her foot impatiently.

"If all the explanations are done, can we get on with this?" Aelita growled. "We don't have much time!" she pointed out as Jacob nodded.

"Go!" he said over the mic as Aelita zoomed off in the direction of the Tower with Ulrich and Marth close behind. As the Tower finally started to come into view, Aelita squinted, trying to get a better view, because she saw a figure emerge from it after a moment, leaving gold ripples as he exited. He stopped and leaned against the Tower, but straightened up as the trio approached. Aelita stared in surprise, as this was _not_ what they had expected at all!.

"Who is that?" Ulrich exclaimed in shock as he skidded to a stop a short distance from the Tower.

"Not my mother," Aelita replied softly, her voice cracking as she looked at the stranger.

This stranger was wearing black fatigues with gold embellishments and a thin yellow lightning bolt down the chest. He had short dark-brown hair and dark, almost black eyes with fury blazing in them as he laid eyes on the Lyoko Warriors. He reached out his hand and muttered something in a language the Warriors could not understand, and a moment later, a flash of light shot out of the Digital Sea and into his hand, elongating until it solidified into a wicked-looking sword. The sword itself was nothing short of stunning; it was bright gold with a serrated blade that looked like a lightning bolt, and it looked extremely lethal.

"Oh, boy," Ulrich said as he drew his sabres. "Jeremy, there's someone on this Replika with us! Is it XANA's next pawn?" he asked as Jeremy ran an almost instantaneous scan on the stranger.

"Uh…there's no trace of XANA in this guy at all!" Jeremy exclaimed in shock after a moment. But it was just then that the stranger rested the tip of his sword on the ground and finally opened his mouth to speak. His first sentence was spewed out so fast that the trio could not understand a word of it, which isn't surprising considering the language was…

"He's speaking Arabic!" Jacob exclaimed as he heard this.

"How do you know that?" Marth asked incredulously.

"I knew someone once who was Middle Eastern," Jacob explained. "I know a bit of the language, but not enough to help us," he added. "See if he understands any English," Jake offered as Aelita stepped forward and held her hands out, showing that she meant no harm.

"We are here in peace; to help," Aelita said gently as she took a step towards him. "My name is Aelita Stones; I am a…"

"I know…who you are…" the boy said in grated English as he lifted his sword and held the tip towards Aelita. She took a step back as he moved towards her slowly and pointedly. "And I do not care," he continued. "I know you are fighting XANA. You may be against XANA, _but_ that means you are also against me. Though my cause is too against him, you are fighting against him, which fights my cause. And you do not want to know what happens to people who are against me…" he finished slowly as Aelita stared and cocked her head slightly in confusion.

"Then what is your cause?" she asked slowly as the boy leveled his blade at her throat.

"It…does not…matter…I think you would say…" he said with malice. "But it is time for you to leave. All of you," he said. Ulrich and Marth just tensed up and moved to flank Aelita on either side as the boy growled in frustration.

"We're not going anywhere," Ulrich said simply as the boy dragged his blade along the ground around his feet, leaving an angry-looking trail of sparks as he hissed out a reply.

"You…defy me. This…means…WAR!" the boy screeched as he charged at Ulrich, his sword raised. He swung it at Ulrich's head, and Ulrich barely had time to raise his sabre to deflect the blow. The two swords clanged together, and sparks exploded around the point where the blades were touching. Ulrich groaned in exertion as he began to slowly force the blade back, and finally was able to push the blade away and force the boy back. Both boys panted, and Ulrich turned to look at Aelita.

"Go on, Princess!" he yelled as the boy came at him again. He responded by charging in, and he swung his sabre at the boy, parrying a slashing move and causing the blades to screech as they slid against each other. Ulrich looked into the boy's eyes as he forced him back once again, and saw blankness there; no emotion, nothing at all. This surprised Ulrich, who thought on his feet as he swiftly dodged a blow from the boy, and when the boy came at him again, Ulrich was ready, and turned quickly, lashing his foot out and tripping the boy, who came crashing to the ground. In an instant, Ulrich was standing over him, a foot on his chest to subdue him as he held his sabre at the boy's throat.

"Now…" Ulrich hissed darkly. "Tell me your story…" The boy shuddered for a moment before finally relaxing and beginning to speak…

"I am…what I believe you Americans would call a mercenary…I am originally from Israel; it was my home…I…I was hired to serve in my home army, but they did not need me on my native soil…I was relocated…to…"

"Russia…?" Ulrich asked as the boy nodded slowly.

"You hear it in my voice…" he said slowly. "Yes…a remote part of Russia…Siberia…I believe…I was sent to a research laboratory…there were many people there…they work on machines…robots of some kind…I am unsure exactly…but the girl…the one who was with you…"

"Aelita?" Ulrich asked in surprise.

"Yes…her…I am sent to virtual world, like this one, but different…the Russians did horrible things to me…ran all sorts of tests…when they are done I am sent to find girl…I remember because I see someone like her before…while I am in Russia…but older…with same hair…bright…vivid pink…" When he said this, Ulrich gasped in utter surprise as the pieces clicked.

"Antea…" he muttered as the boy continued.

"I am assigned to guard her…but then I am sent home…my time is up…I do not know what became of her…that was several years ago…"

"Can you help us? Can you help us find her?" Ulrich asked as he felt the boy seize up underneath him. The boy's eyes shut…and he said one more thing…

"I made deal with devil…working with Russians…all this time I thought I was fighting him…but now I see…I have been tricked…" he trailed off as his eyes shot open and he blasted up, throwing Ulrich off and summoning his sword to him. Ulrich scrambled up and looked at the boy, but the dark eyes had been replaced…with twin _Eyes of XANA_…

"Jeremy!" Ulrich yelled. "He was infected by XANA the whole time; he just didn't know it!"

"I know!" Jeremy hissed as the dot symbolizing the boy on his radar turned from neutral blue to red. "I don't know what to do; you'll just have to fight him!" he shot back as Ulrich drew his sabres again and ran at the boy.

"_Super Flash!_" the boy said in a distorted voice as he turned into a streak of light and blasted around behind Ulrich. As he reformed, Ulrich swiveled around and barely blocked what would have been a fatal blow. The boy darted around, trying to confuse Ulrich, but Ulrich was a little quicker, and managed to get to his Overbike. The boy, though, threw his sword at the Overbike, and it blasted through the wheel, devirtualizing it on impact.

"Crap!" Ulrich hissed as he leveled his swords. The boy called his blade back to him and then charged at Ulrich, who was going to slice at the boy, but then had a quick idea when he realized how close to the edge they were. He lashed to the side just as the boy reached him, and shot a palm out, forcing the boy to fall backwards…

AELITA

CODE:

LYOKO

…right over the edge of the cliff! As he fell, Ulrich saw the boy's eyes return to normal, and he yelled, "NO!" as he tried to catch the boy. The boy just smirked evilly, though, and curled up into a ball, spinning until he uncoiled and was diving straight down into the Digital Sea. He hit the Sea, but instead of the beam of light rising up, a series of ripples emanated from the point of impact as the boy vanished. At this point, Aelita came out of the Tower to join Ulrich and Marth, who had been taking refuge in a small alcove on the other side of the clearing, as Jeremy spoke.

"XANA only wanted it to look like we killed an innocent," Jeremy explained as Ulrich's heart pounded and feelings of guilt rose in his chest. "He was still under control the whole time. The Tower was for show."

"What happened?" Aelita asked.

"I sent the boy over the edge," Ulrich said softly. "I tried to save him, but couldn't. You deactivated the Tower, and I thought that broke XANA's control, but I guess not. He must have been poisoned while he was working at the Russian research facility…"

"The one in Siberia?" Aelita asked curiously.

"That's the one," Ulrich said in reply. "He was formerly Israeli army, but the Russians bought him for their war. Apparently for XANA's purposes, even though he didn't know it. He thought he was fighting against XANA, but all the while…"

"He was actually helping…" Marth said softly.

"Yeah," Ulrich nodded. "But that's not the most interesting part. While he was at the research facility…" Ulrich paused to give Aelita a chance to brace herself before he spoke again, "he saw your mother, Aelita. Alive." Aelita gasped as a tear dripped down her cheek.

"Did he…did he say if he knew where she was?" she asked slowly, in shock at this news.

"If he knew, he didn't tell me," Ulrich said softly in reply. "But now we have a clue as to maybe…where to look…"

"Yes," Aelita agreed. "In Russia…"

Aelita: So…Russia…

Jacob: Apparently. Don't worry, Princess; we'll find your mom. One way or another.

LW94 (to audience): Or will they? Stay tuned; things are just warming up around here! READ AND REVIEW!


	19. Episode 114:  Identity Crisis

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Code Lyoko!**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Guys, I am so sorry for not getting this up until now. Honest to God, what with AP exams coming up and one band event after another, not to mention everything in the world technology-related working against me, there has been no time to write, and when by some small miracle there has been, my computer's been on the fritz. But all is well; I'm no longer sick, and I AM BACK! So, enjoy the latest installment in the Code Lyoko: Reloaded saga! Happy reading!**

**LW94**

**Episode 114: Identity Crisis**

Two weeks later…

"Ungh…" Jacob moaned as he rolled over in his bed and shielded his eyes from the sudden burst of sunlight that emanated from the gap in his curtains. He sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the harsh sunlight. Once he could see somewhat clearly, he reached across to his nightstand and tried to grab his glasses, but misjudged their location because of everything being so blurry, and knocked them onto the floor. He growled and said some things under his breath as he tried to get up and instead ended up rolling off onto the floor. He landed painfully and let out a sharp cry as pain shot through his leg.

"Crap!" he hissed as he reached down and grabbed his ankle, holding it as it throbbed in pain. He growled at his stupidity and muttered a few choice words before slowly dragging himself up and testing his foot to make sure he could stand on it. He gingerly put some weight on it and paced a few steps before deciding that it was okay to walk. In doing so, he walked over to his computer and checked it pointlessly, as there had been no XANA activity since the last attack. Surprising. Once he had done so, he sighed softly in relief, and turned with a start as he heard a knock on his door. "Come in!" he said through gritted teeth as Marth came in after a moment.

"Hey, bud, I heard the crash through the wall. You okay?" he asked as he saw Jacob grimace in pain again.

"No; I fell and smacked my ankle again," he growled softly as a shock shot up his leg. "I'll…be fine," he said as he hobbled over and almost went for a spill again, but Marth caught him and propped him up with his shoulder as Jacob smiled faintly. Marth helped him to the door as the breakfast bell rang and the duo went down slowly for breakfast…

Downstairs, in the cafeteria, the rest of the gang was already eating, with Odd having made a wisecrack to get a second helping from Rosa, when they saw Jacob and Marth come through the double doors. They watched in surprise and concern as Jacob slowly sat down and looked across all of them before he spoke.

"Morning, guys," he said with a trace of pain still in his voice.

"Jacob, is everything okay?" Aelita asked in concern as his eyes glimmered in pain.

"Yes," he lied, trying not to let on how much his ankle hurt at the moment. Aelita just gave him the look; the one he knew she saved for moments when she knew someone was lying to her, and he quickly reconsidered. "No," he admitted. "I fell this morning and smacked my ankle again. It…ungh…" he groaned as he reached down and rested his hand on it as the gang saw his eyes glistening in pain. This was more serious than he was letting it on to be. "I'm all right…" he said slowly, but Aelita shook her head and got up, walking over and grabbing his arm as she put it around her shoulders and helped him up.

"You're going to the infirmiry. _Now_," she emphasized as she supported his right side so he didn't have to put any weight on it. Once they were outside the cafeteria, Aelita stopped slowly and turned to him. "I know you want to be seen by everyone else as normal, but playing it _that_ tough is going to get you in worse shape than you already are," she reminded him as he shook his head and sighed.

"I know. I'm sorry, Aelita," he said softly as she shifted to support his weight.

"It's okay," she said in return. "I just don't want to see you get hurt…" In that moment, Jacob stopped listening as he suddenly saw a blur of brown hair pass by behind Aelita that he swore he recognized… "I…Jacob…Jacob!" Aelita said as he snapped back into focus.

"I—sorry…I guess I was just spacing out for a minute…" he said as the pain returned again. "Unh…" he groaned.

"Come on," she said simply and pointedly as they began to move again. "Let's go," she said as she began to lead him towards the infirmary…

Once Jacob was settled in the infirmary, he allowed himself to drift off as the painkillers took effect. The nurse said Jacob had not broken a bone; that he had just sprained his ankle very badly. As he drifted off, he couldn't help but think of what, or in this case, who, he thought he had seen earlier…

—_Flashback—_

"_Hey, pass it to me!" Jacob laughed as a Frisbee came his way…_

"_Ungh!" he groaned as he crashed down to the ground and cried out; his ankle twisted in an awkward position…_

"_Jacob!"_

"_Call an ambulance! He needs a doctor!"_

"_Jacob, I'll always be here for you…no matter what…"_

"_I know, buddy," Jacob smiled as he felt a hand squeeze his. "I know."_

"_I don't want to leave…but I have to. My parents…their work…if I had a choice…"_

"_I understand…" Jacob heard a tearful, choked voice whisper softly in his ear. "Like I promised…"_

"_Always," Jacob nodded as his heart ached from having to lie to his friend and he turned to leave for the last time…_

—_End Flashback—_

"Unh!" Jacob gasped as he shot up out of a deep sleep. He felt wet streaks on his face and realized he had been crying in his sleep. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at the clock on the wall. It read 6:30. As he gazed out the window, he watched the dying rays of sunlight flash through as the sky faded into dusk. He was so focused on the view that he did not notice or hear a set of footsteps walk quietly into the room. It was only when he felt a soft gaze on the back of his neck that he slowly rolled around to see who was there…and was totally floored by who it was…

"Like I promised…" the brown-haired boy whispered as Jacob could no longer hold back his emotion, and broke down crying at the sight of his best friend standing in front of him; reunited once again…

Joseph Night was one of the few people from Jacob's past that had ever truly accepted him for who he was; disability and all. With wavy brown hair and a smile that could cut through to even the darkest hearts, he was two years behind Jacob and the gang. The two had met when Jacob was in 5th grade and bonded from the moment they met. Joey had defended him every time someone had ridiculed him, and stood by him through his darkest moments, including the loss of his parents just before Jacob had virtualized himself permanently. He had left a note that Joey had later found, apologizing for everything and promising they would meet again someday…and now, albeit backwards from what Jacob had thought would happen, that promise…had been upheld.

Once the two had finally composed themselves enough to speak, a chair was pulled up next to Jacob, and he sat up in his bed, wanting so badly to speak with the only person he had trusted in his life before coming to Kadic…

"Joey…you don't even know how happy I am to see you again…I still can't believe it…" Jacob stuttered as Joey smiled and raised a hand in the air. Jacob grinned, and swung his hand out, meeting in the middle in a handshake; their own little device that they had had for years.

"Just like old times," Joey grinned.

"Just like old times…" Jacob sighed. "So what's the deal? Are you…?" Jacob was hesitant to finish his sentence for fear that he might get his heart torn up again, but Joey just smiled.

"You bet. I'm here at Kadic now. Transferred in yesterday." At this news, Jacob just broke into a wide grin that lit up the darkening room.

"Reunited again," Jacob smiled as he leaned over and hugged his best friend, thankful that something had finally worked out in his favor…

Two days later, Jacob had finally been released from the infirmary and was back in his room. He was working on some Lyoko things on his laptop when he heard a gentle knock at his door and he closed the screen just before Joey came into the room.

"Hey, man," Joey grinned as he plopped down on the bed next to Jacob's desk. "What's up? Feeling any better?" he asked as he noticed the large wrapping on Jacob's ankle.

"Yeah, I'm alright," he said. "Sore, but I'm okay."

"What'cha working on?" Joey asked curiously as Jacob froze up for a second. He carefully thought out a response as he heard a muffled alarm go off from the speakers, and a few moments later, his door flew open as Odd rushed in.

"Jacob?" he asked as he saw Joey sitting there. "Oh, gosh, I didn't mean to interrupt," Odd said sheepishly as Joey got up. "You're the new kid, right?"

"Yeah, Joey Night. I've heard about you. Odd Della Robbia, right?" he asked as Odd grinned.

"Yup! That's me! Resident prankster of Kadic Academy at your service!" he grinned as Jacob chuckled under his breath, and then suddenly realized what Odd had come in for in the first place.

"Odd! It's about…you-know-who, isn't it?" he asked as Joey gave him a confused look and Odd nodded.

"Jeremy says we're needed ASAP," Odd added as Jacob got up quickly, his adrenaline going and all thoughts of pain in his foot gone. "Wait!" Odd warned as he walked to the door and grabbed the folding wheelchair that Jacob used occasionally when his ankle was really acting up. "Take this. It'll be safer," he reminded him as Jacob nodded.  
"Okay. Joey, I have to go take care of something. If anyone asks, cover for me, will you?"

"Sure man," Joey said as he watched Jacob roll towards the elevator at the end of the hallway and Odd rush to the stairs. He had no desire to find out what was wrong; Jacob hated it when he pried. He just knew something wasn't right and that he needed to make sure his best friend didn't get found out. As he was thinking this, however; he didn't notice a shadowy fog creeping up around his feet, and before he could react or scream, it forced its way into his mouth and down his throat, and he let out a menacing growl as his pupils flickered into twin Eyes…

A few minutes later, a panting Odd lifted the manhole cover on the Factory bridge and stood in the massive main entrance waiting for Jacob. He saw Jacob roll out of the woods towards the bridge a few moments later, and sighed in relief that Jake had made it safely, and without being spotted.

"Good, you're here," Odd said as he tried to catch his breath. "Let's go."

"You got it," Jacob agreed as he rolled down the ramps towards the Lift; Odd taking the rope and swinging across as they headed for the Lab…

Once they arrived, Jeremy sighed in relief as Jacob rolled out of the elevator towards him and picked up his headset.

"Great! You guys made it just in time! Aelita and Marth are already in Lyoko," he added. "Odd, head down to join them."

"On my way, Einstein!" he grinned as he punched the button for the Scanner Room and the doors closed. Once they had, Jeremy turned to Jacob.

"You're sure you weren't followed?" he asked pointedly as Jacob scowled in disgust and slight hurt.

"Are you kidding?" Jacob shot back. "Joey would never lie to me. He didn't follow me," Jacob assured as Jeremy nodded.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have said it like that. I just…I mean…" He stopped when Jacob punched him playfully in the shoulder and laughed.

"Don't worry, I know. You're just being overprotective; that's all!" Jacob grinned. "Now, let's get to that Tower…"

Transfer Odd! Transfer Marth! Transfer Aelita!

Scanner Odd! Scanner Marth! Scanner Aelita!

Virtualization!

A few moments later, Odd materialized over the Ice Sector, and as he landed, he saw Aelita and Marth run out to meet him.

"Hey, Princess! Hey, Marth!" Odd grinned. "What's the scoop?" he asked as he looked around.

"The Tower is 30 degrees east of our current location," Aelita said as she pointed to a wide bridge complimented by a bunch of menacing-looking arches all the way down the length of it.

"Here come your vehicles!" Jeremy said as he materialized the Overboard, Overwing, and Overblast. The trio hopped on, and took off through the menacing arches towards the Tower…

Back at the Factory, a low growl was heard as Joey stalked quietly across the bridge and swung down to the Lift, being careful to be totally silent. He reached out to press the elevator button, and then stopped, turning for the corridor that led to the central stairs… He would come in a way that they weren't expected, XANA thought evilly as he let a couple stray sparks crackle at Joey's fingertips…

A few minutes later, the trio had made it to about a hundred yards from the Tower when Odd caught sight of something he had never seen before outside of Sector Five…

"Uh, Jeremy…? There's a swarm of Mantas…" he said hesitantly as they skidded to a stop and readied their weapons. The Mantas shrieked and charged their lasers, but held their fire for some reason…

"Mantas? Outside of Sector Five?" Jeremy mused in surprise and confusion. "XANA's getting more daring," he commented as a pair of Tarantulas materialized to join the flying beasts. "Guys, you've got more company!" Jeremy added as Marth readied his ax.

"We got it, Jeremy," he said tonelessly as he prepared himself to fight. All of a sudden, the Mantas shrieked again, and blasted a volley of lasers towards the Warriors. "Move!" Marth hissed as Aelita nimbly dodged a blast just inches from her face while Marth slid backwards and gripped his ax tightly. It began to glow with a crimson light, and Marth let out a loud scream as he swung it at one of them Mantas. He didn't let it leave his hand, but instead, a huge crescent-shaped swath of red light left the head of the ax and a moment later, sliced clean through the Manta, destroying it almost instantly as the two halves of the shrieking beast disintegrated.

"Awesome!" Marth grinned as he dodged another blast from one of the other Mantas. He managed to get out of the way, but ran into a sheet of ice when he tried to back up further, and spewed a few choice words under his breath when the pair of Tarantulas boxed him in. "Crap…" he hissed as he raised his ax like a shield…

"What was that?" Jacob asked suddenly as his sensitive ear picked up what he thought was a movement from above the Lab.

"What?" Jeremy asked as he continued to type away, trying to find a way to stall the monsters attacking Aelita, Odd, and Marth. All of a sudden, Jacob caught a movement from the corner of his eye, and he got up and whirled around to see Joey standing in front of him…

"Oh…" Jacob started as Jeremy swiveled around and gaped in shock.

"I thought you said you weren't followed!" Jeremy shrieked.

"I wasn't!" Jacob shot back as he took a good look at Joey's face and saw… "Oh…this is not good…" he muttered as he saw the twin Eyes in place of Joey's pupils. The brown-haired boy growled menacingly and raised his hand, firing a blast of electricity into Jacob's chest that threw him backwards into his chair, knocking it over and sending him to the ground as Jeremy watched helplessly. "Einstein, get them to the Tower! I'll handle him!" Jacob said through gritted teeth as he took off towards the ladder and barely slipped up it as Joey ran towards the wall and skidded to a stop in front of the ladder. He scaled it with lightning speed and took off after Jacob, who was still limping slightly as he reached a dead end and turned to face his friend, and for the moment, enemy…

"I—I don't know if I can do this…" Jacob said hesitantly as he looked at his friend's face… Joey, however; just growled and blasted Jacob with another burst of lightning. Jake slumped to the floor and weakly got up, leaning against the wall as he gazed, pained, at his friend. "Joey, I know you're in there; this isn't you! Listen to me!" Jacob shrieked as Joey blasted him yet again with a lightning pulse…

Meanwhile, on Lyoko, Marth had been able to escape the Tarantulas and slice and dice them, leaving just a pair of Mantas separating our heroes from the Tower…

"We each take one on three?" Odd asked as Marth looked at him, out of breath, and nodded.

"One, two, THREE!" Marth yelled as they ran forward and Odd fired a volley of Laser Arrows at the Mantas, who shrieked and glided out of the way. This exchange continued for a few moments before the Mantas glowed suddenly with a crimson aura and flew towards each other. One flew under the other and fused itself to the underside of the first, and an eerie, echoing shriek was heard as the melded Mantas charged a single crimson ball of light at their mouth and blasted a flashing red light beam at the two boys. It hit them both before they could react, and for a moment, all you could see was a giant blazing red orb of light as it surrounded them and glowed brighter and brighter. Aelita groaned as she hit the deck and dived behind a large ice rock to take cover. The glow increased in intensity as the sphere of light shrank, and when the light finally faded, the two Mantas had disintegrated and the boys were standing exactly where they had been to begin with. Aelita came out from where she had taken cover and looked at both of them as they looked around.

"Well, that was weird," she commented as the boys looked at each other and all of a sudden jumped back in shock as they both let out a yelp of surprise.

"What are you-? How am I-? What's going on!" they both said at the exact same time as Aelita looked on in confusion.

"I'm looking at me!" Odd said in shock.

"_I'm_ looking at me!" Marth shot back as realization hit Aelita and she yelled, "Jeremy! We've got a problem!"

"_What is it, Aelita?_" Jeremy asked, but before she could respond, Odd and Marth looked up and screamed:

"WE"VE SWITCHED BODIES!"

Meanwhile, Jacob was now on the floor as Joey cackled evilly and stood over him. He moaned in pain as Joey pinned him to the floor with his foot and blasted him with another shock…

"I—I won't fight you, Joey…" Jacob said in an almost inaudible whisper…

"_Jacob!_" Joey screamed from deep in his mind… "_I'm sorry!_"

"Uh…uh…hold on a sec," Jeremy muttered nervously as his fingers flew over the keyboard. "Aelita, deactivate the Tower while I try to figure this out…" he said quickly as Aelita raced into the Tower…

AELITA

CODE:

LYOKO

"Tower deactivated…" Aelita said softly as at the exact same time, a Tower in the Mountain Sector began to glow crimson….

In the damp side corridor, Joey's eyes flickered briefly as he tried to regain control, but it was short-lived as his eyes returned to the twin Eyes of XANA and he let out an eerie caterwaul. Jacob just looked up in agony as pain radiated all through his body…

"No…" he moaned softly…

Jeremy's eyes lit up as he finally located the strip of data he had been searching for. He let out a small "Yes!" as he located the piece of coding… The small problem being…

"I've located the coding for an antivirus!" Jeremy exclaimed. "I've traced the code to a Tower in the Mountain Sector! Grab your vehicles and head for the Way Tower so you can take the Passage Stream!"

Once the mixed-up pair, with Aelita, had made it to the Way Tower, the trio passed quickly through the entrance to the Tower and stood at the edge of the lower platform ready to fall over the side…  
"Ready?" Aelita asked. She got two nods in response, with both boys fearing to speak or do anything in the other's body besides run. Aelita just closed her eyes and let herself fall over the edge into the data streams below, and the other two followed suit. They flew through the flickering screens and streams of data untl they felt themselves floating upwards again. The trio landed gracefully on the platform of the Tower and walked to the data wall, passing through it and leaving three ripple circles in their wake.

"We made it!" Aelita sighed as she looked around to see the misty outlines of the crags in the distance and the purple rocks around them.

"_The Tower is directly east of you!_" Jeremy said. "_Hurry!_" He was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he noticed the SuperScan again. "Oh, shoot!" he hissed as he keyed the mic again. "Aelita! The Tower with the antivirus is activated now! You'll have to deactivate it before I can retrieve the code!"

"Roger!" Aelita replied as they came within eyesight of the Tower. The trio saw a pair of Megatanks guarding it, and the boys looked at each other in apprehension as Aelita just stared at them calmly.

"Well, this shouldn't be terrible," she mused. "Boys, you're going to have to do something!" she said as the Megatanks opened and began charging their elliptical lasers. She dived around to meet the first one and as it fired, she realized she couldn't fire a shot in time and had to summon her energy shield to block the blast. She grunted as the laser impacted her pink wall and shuddered as she tried desperately to force it back…

Meanwhile, Odd and Marth had taken the other Megatank and were circling it in an attempt to lure it away, but it would have none of it as it rolled onto its side and opened, preparing to fire its laser. Odd looked at Marth, er, himself, and Marth nodded; the two of them jumping at the exact same time to avoid the laser. Marth looked down at the Megatank as the laser vanished and yelled, "Laser Arrow!" as he fired a stream of shots at the sphere. Unfortunately, every one of them missed their intended target.

"Come on, Kodji!" Odd yelled. "You can do better than that!"

"I'd like to see you try, Della Robbia!" Marth hissed as Odd struggled to heft the battle ax. He readied it just as the Megatank opened to fireand sidestepped deftly out of the way as he swung it at the Eye inside the casing, but the Megatank was too smart for him and closed in time to snap the ax before it impacted, leaving Odd defenseless and Marth staring in panic. All of a sudden, when the Megatank opened again, a flash came from over Marth's shoulder, and he saw a pink orb impact the inner ring, causing the Megatank to explode a moment later. Odd looked over Marth's shoulder to see Aelita hovering behind them with an exasperated grin on her face.

"Do I have to rescue everyone around here?" she said huffily as Odd and Marth laughed under their breaths.

"_Hurry…_" Jeremy

"Aelita, go!" Jeremy hissed as she landed and ran inside the Tower. As she floated up to the second platform, Jeremy heard a faint hiss over his headset as two words were spoken…

"_I'm sorry…_"

"JACOB!" Jeremy screamed as Aelita reached the second platform…

Joey cackled as he let the sparks crackle around his fingertips and prepared to deliver one final blow. But as he lifted his hand to strike, Jacob looked up once more and found his eyes, and somewhere in his subconscious, the real Joey broke through, and he dropped to his knees as he held his head, his eyes flickering madly as he let out a keening wail…

AELITA

CODE:

LYOKO

"Tower deactivated," Aelita said as the aura faded to white…

"Unhh…" Joey moaned softly as his eyes faded to normal and he passed out on the floor next to Jacob. Jacob breathed a sigh of relief as he felt Joey's soft breathing brush his cheek, and before he blacked out himself, he managed to breathe one more word…

"Return…"

Jeremy heard this, and quickly isolated the Tower from the rest of the Network so that it would be unaffected by the Return Trip, as he was unsure of any adverse effects that might happen if the two were returned while they were still in each other's bodies…

"Return to the Past, now!" Jeremy said as Jacob and Joey were enveloped in the familiar white light… Once Jeremy was sure the Return Trip had worked without incident, he went back to the screens and looked in on the Tower.

"_Okay, Odd, Marth, listen up. Stand on the center of the platform and relax. This won't work if you panic._" The two complied and stood next to each other as Jeremy raced his fingers across the keyboard. "_Activating antivirus_," he said as the two boys levitated in the air above the platform and began to glow with a bright white aura. A beam of light flashed up from the platform and connected their foreheads. A thin data stream flickered as the beam changed from white to green and vanished a moment later. The boys were lowered, and once their feet hit the ground, Odd looked at Marth and smiled.

"Ain't it something to be back where we belong!" he grinned as Aelita laughed…

Two days later, in Marth's room, after Jacob had had time to rest up and recover from yet another attempt on his life…

"I hate being the brunt of XANA's revenge…" he muttered as he put some ice on his still swollen ankle.

"How's Joey?" Ulrich asked in concern for the boy who had inadvertently been drawn into XANA's evil scheme…

"He'll be okay. He's pretty battered, and he doesn't know why, but I told him that he was in a fight and got knocked out so that's why he doesn't remember anything," Jacob replied.

"How'd you explain your bruises?" William asked softly as Jacob lifted a finger to touch his cheek where Joey had hit him.

"I…told him I tried to stop it…" Jacob whispered. "He's my friend; I could never hurt him by telling him the truth." A long silence followed before Odd said, "Well, why don't we find something to laugh about! Like how stupid Marth and I were in each other's bodies!"

"Hey! Della Robbia! You're gonna regret that!" Marth scowled playfully as he turned around and grabbed the only thing he could find. A pillow off of his bed.

"Pillow fight!" Marth yelled as he chucked the lump at Odd, who ducked and let the pillow fly into Ulrich's face!

"Oh, it's on now!" he laughed as he grabbed a pillow and threw it, prompting everyone to join in on the fun as Odd could be heard saying over the clamor:

"I'm sorry, Marth!"

"Oh, well, payback sucks, doesn't it!" he shot back as Jacob sat back, watched, and laughed as Odd got what he deserved…

LW94: It feels so good to be back, finally! Hope you enjoyed, and prepare for the return of the Antea saga in the next chapter! Oooooohhhh… READ AND REVIEW!

Next time:

**Episode 115: The Clue**

As Jacob, Jeremy and the gang begin to lose hope of ever finding another trace of Aelita's mom, they receive a mysterious lead from a surprising source, on Code Lyoko: Reloaded.


	20. Episode 115:  The Clue

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**AUTHORS NOTE (PLEASE, PLEASE READ!): Guys, I am SOOOOOOOOOOO sorry it's taken me so long to update! Between getting ready for finals and I actually ended up losing my computer access for a week (boo, hiss) I know that it's been a while. I will do my ABSOLUTE BEST to make sure I get more up ASAP! Especially since it's Spring Break! WHOO! Maybe I'll get this season done by Friday; at least that is my plan! Please don't give up on me, guys and girls! More to come…**

**Episode 115: The Clue**

It had been two weeks since Joey's first official day at Kadic and his attack on Jacob, but ever since that most recent attack, XANA had been strangely quiet. No attacks, no weirdness, just life as usual, which in itself was strange given the circumstances. In fact, nothing had really _happened_ since the attack in question. Well…until…

The gang was sitting on the lawn in the courtyard, trying to find any bit of shade in relief of the late spring heat. Suddenly, a sharp ring cut through the thick late spring air, startling Ulrich and Odd out of a dazed stupor. Jeremy just looked slowly down at his pocket and pulled out his phone, suddenly reacting a lot quicker when he realized who it was. He picked up the phone quickly, and you could tell he was suddenly alert and excited.

"Jacob? Go," he said, and with that one word, the gang could hear the garble from the phone speaker that meant Jake was trying to spit the whole story out in one breath. "Whoa, whoa, slow down," Jeremy reminded him cheerily. "There's no rush," he said as he put the phone on speaker. "You're on speaker. Astound them."

"_Guys, listen up; this is big. I was doing a DeepScan of the Network earlier yesterday and came across a weird line of coding in one of the Replikas. I took a closer look and traced it to the Desert Replika, and it's got some pretty awesome information in it. I haven't been able to decipher it fully yet, but…_"

"But? What is it, Jake?" Odd asked quickly.

"_Well, what the coding is is part of a cipher that XANA structured to hide sensitive information in._"

"What kind of sensitive information?" Ulrich asked as Jacob continued.

"_A set of coordinates corresponding to a data cache that XANA obviously doesn't want us to find. I haven't been able to decipher the full coordinates yet, but when I do, we have to go hunt it down!_"

"How do you know what's at the coordinates in question if you don't know the location they correspond to yet?" Aelita asked curiously.

"_That's the genius of it. XANA marked in the cipher what it was for. It's like he left a note for himself, but we found it instead!_" As Aelita listened to this, her frown grew longer and her forehead wrinkled again as her brow furrowed.

"Or left it as a trap for us…" she murmured. "I don't know how good an idea this is, Jacob," she said worriedly.

"_It's the only lead we have. I also analyzed another portion of your mom's file…_"

"I thought XANA destroyed it all?" she asked in confusion.

"_I always make backups_," Jacob smiled cheerfully. "_There's a footnote in one of the margins of the file that has a partial set of coordinates matching the section I've already deciphered. Whatever this thing is that XANA's hiding, it has to do with your mom, Aelita!_" At this, Aelita's eyes sparkled, and she suddenly looked happier than she had in days as she spoke again.

"That changes things entirely," she said as her gaze hardened. "We go tonight," she said simply as Jeremy just looked at her with concern in his face, knowing what had happened the last time she had been this determined in anything…

Classes passed by rather quickly under the circumstances, and just as the bell rang to announce the end of the school day, Jacob left his last class, World Politics, and was passing the math hallway on his way to the dorms when he caught a glimpse of Joey coming down the hall. He smiled and stopped at the end of the hallway, waiting for his friend to get to him. Joey smiled when he came up and gave Jacob a quick slap on the shoulder in greeting.

"What's up, Jake?" he said quickly.

"I hate politics," Jacob said wryly as Joey laughed. "How you feeling?" he asked, still noticing the fading, but prevalent, bruising on Joey's face and neck.

"I'm getting better," he said as he rubbed a spot on the side of his neck and winced. "Still sore though…" he muttered. "Man, why was I stupid enough to pick a fight in the first place?" he asked aloud as guilt gnawed at Jacob's conscience for not being honest with his friend. But how could he, really? He brushed it off as Joey lightly shook his head and smiled. "Ah, what am I saying? It doesn't matter now," he said as he looked up at Jacob and grinned. "Hey, the spring dance is coming up. You thinking of taking anyone?" he asked to clear the air.

"Probably not…" Jacob sighed. "Just…not the right person right now…" he said as Joey nodded.

"It'll come. You just have to be patient. Any plans?" he asked as Jacob's phone rang. He kept talking as Jacob answered it. "I was thinking we could see a movie or something…" he broke off when he saw the look on Jake's face. "Need me to cover for you again?" he asked as Jake nodded.

"Yeah, I've got something I've got to take care of," he said as he turned and began to run towards the side of the Dorm building, which led to the Gym entrance. "Hey, don't get in trouble with Delmas, though, you hear?" Jacob called back to him.

"I'll do my best," Joey said as Jacob vanished from sight. Something was just tugging at him, though. He could tell, this time, that Jake wasn't being _totally_ honest with him. Something was fishy, and he was getting intrigued as to what…

Jacob ran down to the basement of the Gym and unlocked the Boiler Room door with the passcard he swiped from Jim his first day at Kadic. He ran through the Boiler Room and soon came to the sewer tunnel that connected into it. He made his way through the sewers, and all the while the same thought was going through his head: "_What if this is a trap…?_"

A few minutes later, he had made it to the Factory Bridge, and swung down to the Lift without hesitation. He made his way down to the Lab, and when he arrived, the rest of the gang was already waiting for him…

"We ready to do this?" William asked as Jacob nodded slowly.

"Yeah, the coordinates are fully deciphered, but we can't risk sending all of you. Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita, William. You four will go to the Replika to try and retrieve the data cache based on the coordinates we've got. Odd, you and Marth will stay here in case something happens on Earth or Lyoko, or one of the others gets devirtualized and we need to send in backup."

"Roger, Jake," Odd said. Just as he did, an alarm went off on the Supercomputer screen, and Jeremy quickly diagnosed it as the SuperScan. Surprise, surprise…

"Jacob, XANA must thinking more and more like you all the time. Activated tower in the Ice Sector," he said as Jacob nodded grimly.

"Okay, change of plans. Aelita, you'll go with Odd and Marth while the others head for the Desert Replika to retrieve the data. Remember: don't do anything reckless."

"We won't, Einstein," Odd stressed to Jacob as the six of them headed for the Scanner Room…

Transfer Odd, Transfer Marth, Transfer Aelita.

Scanner Odd, Scanner Marth, Scanner Aelita.

Virtualization!

Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Yumi, Transfer William.

Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Yumi, Scanner William.

Virtualization!

Moments later, the first trio landed in the Ice Sector, while the second trio landed in the Skid hangar…

"_Okay, here's the deal. Group A, I'll pilot the Skid remotely. You're headed for the Desert Replika to retrieve the data. Group B; deactivate the Tower before anything real fishy happens._"

"Roger that!" all six Warriors responded as the first group boarded the Skid…

"Energize!" Jacob said as the trio vanished in the now-expected columns of light. In a flash of sparks, they appeared in their NavSkids, and Jacob remotely took the controls.

"Okay, if everyone's ready, cast off! Full steam ahead!" he said as he released the docking mechanisms and launched the skid out of the hold. He maneuvered it deftly out of the north pole of Sector Five and a moment later plunged it into the Digital Sea…

As the Skid emerged into the cool, calm waters of the Network, Ulrich looked around before saying, "All clear," over his com-link to Jacob. Jacob just nodded and drove the ship silently until he approached a Data Hub.

"_You guys ready?_"

"Roger," William said as Ulrich and Yumi nodded.

"_All right. Hyperfluid aspiration in 3, 2, 1…_"

Meanwhile, in the Ice Sector…

"Unh!" Odd grunted as he landed hard on the shimmering ice. He stood up slowly and looked around for any signs of something suspicious as Aelita and Marth landed next to him.

"_Okay, the Tower is 40 degrees east-southeast of your current position_," Jeremy said over the link as Aelita turned and saw a large chasm between them and the other side, where the trio saw another section of the Sector that wound off into a narrow path in the distance.

"Uh, Einstein, can we have our—"

"_Vehicles?_" Jeremy asked with a grin as Odd laughed at being cut off. "_Sure, one sec_," he said as he virtualized the Overboard, Overwing, and Overblast. "_Better?_" he asked with a sly smirk.

"Much," Odd laughed cynically as the trio took off over the chasm…

Meanwhile, in the Digital Sea…

"Hey, Jacob, are you any closer to knowing what's in this treasure trove?" William asked as Jacob grinned briefly.

"_Not sure yet…_" he muttered as a siren went off and an alert came up on his screen. "_Hey, guys, you've got company! NavSkids away!_" he said coolly as the NavSkids released from the Skid and Ulrich, Yumi, and William whipped around to face the swarm of Sharks that had caught up to them.

"Well, shall we?" Ulrich said as Yumi chuckled and gripped her NavSkid controls.

"We shall," she grinned as she shot away towards the center of the swarm, startling the Sharks and breaking the swarm up into two smaller groups. "I'll take these!" she yelled as she chased them away, leaving four Sharks staring down Ulrich and William.

"On three?" William asked as Ulrich nodded and locked his sights on one of the beasts.

"Fire!" he yelled as a torpedo blasted towards the Shark…

Meanwhile, Joey was standing outside of the boys' cloakroom when he saw something sparkling on the ground in front of the Boiler Room door. He walked over, making sure no one saw him, and picked the object up to examine it. He recognized it immediately to be the keyring that Jacob always carried with him; with his pain medication on it. He peered at it slowly as he looked up to see the Boiler Room door cracked open. He pushed it open and slowly shut it behind him, careful not to make a sound, and then walked over to the door on the opposite end of the room. He tested it, and finding it locked, looked around until he saw a key hooked onto a nearby pipe. He tried the key in the lock and opened the door, revealing the entrance to the sewers…

Joey walked in and shut the door behind him again, listening as it clanged shut. He looked around at the dank walls and suddenly saw a set of footprints on the ground in the damp.

"So _this_ is where you went," Joey said simply as he followed Jacob's footprints…

Back in the Ice Sector, Odd, Marth, and Aelita were cruising along smoothly as they finally came to the end of the narrow path, which opened up onto a large platform with a Tower, glowing bright red, at the farthest end.

"Jeremy, we see the Tower!" Aelita said as she suddenly heard a loud cracking noise. The ground beneath them began to shake, and Odd screamed, "Hit the deck!" as Aelita screamed and was thrown to the ground. The trio covered their heads as chunks of ice from nearby pillars were thrown to the ground near them, and when the shaking finally subsided, Odd slowly got up and helped Aelita up as Marth jumped to his feet and looked across to the Tower. He shook his head and muttered one word, which Odd and Aelita both caught as they looked up as well.

"Crap…" The Tower, formerly connected to the platform, was now floating on an island that was no longer connected to the main Sector, rendering it much less accessible than before. "Aelita, can you fly over to it?"

"I can try," she nodded as she summonded her wings and took off. But as she approached the Tower,a pair of laser blasts came out of nowhere. Aelita deftly maneuvered around the first, but could not avoid the second, and crashed to the ground in front of a swarm of a half-dozen Hornets and a pair of Tarantulas. She slowly stood up and faced the beasts as Marth and Odd rushed up to join her. The trio stared down the monsters and Aelita shook her head slowly.

"Jeremy, XANA's sent monsters to guard the Tower. Do you have any idea what's going on there?" she asked as Jeremy looked at his real world monitors and all the news channels in the area.

"No, I don't see anything going on here…weird…" he muttered…

In a secluded mountainous area…

A soft dusting of snow was on the ground because of the high elevation. A bird chirped in a pine tree in the backdrop, but in a small clearing, with pine woods and the craggy peaks in the foggy background, sat an old, run-down cabin. It had sat undisturbed for longer than anyone could remember, and no one dared go near it anymore, but as the ground began to shake, a flock of birds flew up from the woods, startled, as the old cabin began to creak under the stress of the ground's movement…

"Ungh!" William grunted as a blast from one of the Sharks smashed into the side of his NavSkid.

"I got'cha covered!" Ulrich yelled as he fired a barrage of blasts at the Sharks, who screeched as they exploded in a cloud of yellow sparks.

"Thanks, man," William sighed gratefully as Yumi zoomed back to meet them.

"All taken care of," she said simply as the trio shot back to the Skid.

"_Recovery_," Jacob said over the com-link as he reattached the NavSkids. He once again began to pilot the Skid, and after a few minutes of silence as the three Warriors scouted out the surrounding waters, Yumi looked out the windshield of her NavSkid and saw the large shadow of the Desert Replika's shell appearing ahead of them. Jacob deftly maneuvered the Skid in front of the entry gate, and prepped the necessary programs before prepping the Skid.

"_Rotation_," he said as the Skid rotated into vertical mode. "_Activate data key_," he added as a beam of light shot out from the Skid and connected with the Eye of XANA on the lock of the Access Tunnel.

"_Here we go_," Jake said as the Skid entered the Access Tunnel…

Meanwhile…

"Crap!" Odd hissed as he skidded out of the way to avoid a laser barrage from one of the Tarantula's and tried to get off a Laser Arrow but was hit in the shoulder by a laser before he could fire.

Aelita was deftly jumping out of the way of the lasers the second Tarantula was firing and growled as one of them hit her leg, causing her to drop to one knee.

"I hate Mondays…" she growled under her breath.

Joey grunted as he lifted the cover off of the manhole and climbed up the ladder onto the Factory bridge. He replaced the manhole cover and looked around in confusion.

"Now what on earth would you be doing at the old factory, Jake…?"

"Weird…" Ulrich remarked as Jacob docked the Skid at the nearest Tower. The Desert Replika looked aesthetically just like on Lyoko, but what Ulrich was remarking at was a cloud signifying a sandstorm off in the distance.

"_Beware of the changing weather, folks; Lyoko does NOT have that_," Jake laughed as he pressed a few more keys. "_Energize_," he said as the trio vanished in a flash of sparks. A few moments later, they landed on the sandy surface of the Sector, and William spat out a mouthful of grit as a sharp gust blew at the Warriors.

"Yuck! XANA apparently wants to suffocate us!" he spat as Jacob snorted in mock sarcasm.

"_Maybe…but in any case this Replika is even more realistic than Lyoko. Make sure you three are on your guard. I'm downloading your vehicles!_" Jake finished as the Overdisc, Overbike, and Overwing virtualized in front of them. "_The coordinates are inputted in your vehicles; they'll take you straight there!_" Jacob explained with a smile plastered on his face. "_I've been working on the tracking programs and made a kind of autopilot program that I installed on your guys' vehicles. There's a switch on each steering console; you can switch between autopilot and manual depending on the situation._"

"Cool!" Ulrich grinned as the trio climbed on their vehicles, and a moment later sat back as they took off down a menacing path cut through a pair of ragged cliffs…

Joey squeezed his eyes shut as he slid down the rope to the main Factory floor. He looked around before walking over to the Lift entrance. He pushed the red button, and the Lift whirred silently as it began its trek up to him…

"Oh, crap!" Jacob hissed as his fingers flew over the keys and shut the elevator off.

Joey hit the button a second and third time. When he got no response, he muttered to himself, "There must be another way in…" before beginning to search around for another way down…

A few minutes passed, and finally, the sandy cliffs shrank into the ground and the path opened up into a vast platform that went on all the way to the horizon. It was totally flat, dotted with a couple of boulders and trees, but they were a long ways off. Ahead of them, Ulrich spotted a glowing beam shooting up into the sky out of a pyramid shaped rock that, upon closer inspection, was made of four slabs 'sewn' together into one hollow pyramid. William just stared at it for a moment, and Yumi pondered the whole thing as Jacob came on over the com-link.

"_You're right on top of the data!_" he grinned as Ulrich stood over it.

"Yeah," Ulrich replied. "The catch is, getting into it!" he grunted as he brought his saber down on the rock slabs. They did not budge, and Ulrich groaned as a Megatank rolled up to defend the data cache. It rolled in front of William and let off a blast without hesitation.

"Super Smoke!" he yelled as he vanished into a puff of silvery smoke and shot across the surface of the Sector. Meanwhile, the blast impacted the stone casing, and Yumi watched as the stone slab cracked under the stress of the laser.

"Ulrich, William! Lure the Megatank to hit the slabs!" she yelled as Ulrich ran in front of the data cache. The Megatank opened and blasted at him. He leaped out of the way just in time as the elliptical laser hit the slabs again and they cracked even further under the stress. Ulrich then had an idea hit him as the Megatank rolled closer and charged its laser again. Ulrich turned and chucked his first sabre at the rock slab, watching as it lodged in the web of cracks and shattered the rocks. He then whipped around and threw his second sabre at the Megatank, and it impacted the Eye before the beast could fire, causing it to explode.

"That's how we roll," Ulrich said simply as William reformed and the trio walked over to the now-exposed glowing sphere of data. It was swirling and glowed a soft white. Ulrich reached out to touch it, but Yumi swatted his hand away.

"Jacob, we've found the data," she said. "What do we do now?"

"_Easy. Take it._" Ulrich mouthed 'I told you so' to Yumi and reached out with both of his hands, gently grabbing the sphere and watching as the light melted into his hands. Jacob's fingers flew over the keys, and a few seconds later, he said, "_Data downloaded. Good job, guys. You can come home now._"

Back in the Ice Sector…

Marth was actually having a little bit of luck on his side as the Hornets circled around him and charged their lasers. He smirked as they paused and hefted his ax, whirling it around him once before releasing it. It whirled around like a discus in a similar fashion to Yumi's fans as it sliced through one of the bugs and then curved around taking out three more. This left the two directly in front of him as he jumped straight up to avoid their laser blasts, caught his returning ax, and swung it directly across his field of vision, blasting out a wave of scarlet energy that sliced through the two Hornets before they could react. Marth dropped to the ground and grinned at his luck.

"I am too good…" he smirked as he looked over at Odd and Aelita struggling with the two Tarantulas. He just shook his head and laughed, swinging the blade of his ax down into the ground. This action caused a pillar of scarlet fire to blast forward from the point of impact, and when it hit the icy boulder straight in its path, it split into two separate pillars that shot out and impacted the two Tarantulas, causing Aelita and Odd to jump back in shock as they looked at Marth.

"You looked like you needed some help," he grinned as Aelita scowled playfully.

"Sure, thanks," she drawled in mock sarcasm as Marth grinned. "Now…" she muttered to herself as she backed up until she was at the edge of the platform. She prepped herself, and then sprinted headlong towards the Tower. Just before she would have run over the side and fallen to the Digital Sea, she launched off the edge, and Odd watched helplessly as she flew towards the small island. She…

Meanwhile…

"Ow!" Joey grumbled to himself as his shorts snagged on a metal rod poking out from the wall. He grimaced as a small cut opened on his thigh and began to bleed, but he pressed on, having found the stairs. He slowly climbed down them and came to an opening in the concrete, where he saw a soft glow. He looked in, and saw…

…made it across! Aelita swung her arms forward and righted herself as she barely escaped falling backwards. She sighed in relief and entered the Tower…

"Jeremy; Jacob?" Joey exclaimed in stunned shock. Jacob gasped as he leapt out of his chair…

AELITA

CODE:

LYOKO

"Tower deactivated," Aelita said softly as the screens fell around her…

Jacob heard those two words, and then looked back at his computer screen, which made Joey growl in frustration. Jake just pressed a couple of keys as Jeremy nodded, and then looked up with tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry I have to lie to you Joey; I just don't have a choice…" he said as he began to cry, and then he reached down and pressed one more key…

"RETURN TO THE PAST, NOW!" he screamed, his voice breaking as he broke down into sobs on the floor, not even looking up at the stunned look of pain on Joey's face that was swept away in the wall of light…

"I can't believe it…" Jacob muttered over and over as he shook in his desk chair. "I can't…"

"Jacob, you know he won't remember anything…" Aelita said gently.

"I know…" Jacob said softly, stifling a choked sob. "I just don't want to lie to him…not like this…" He was suddenly distracted by a beep from his computer screen. "The data's finished deciphering…" he muttered as he opened the file… "That's strange…all that's here are two sets of encrypted coordinates…"

"Can you tell what they're for?" Odd asked. Jacob shook his head.

"No, but I won't stop until I know what they mean. This is the first clue we've had to anything about your mom, Aelita. I won't let it go to waste," he vowed.

LW94: So…what do you think is coming? REVIEW and let me know! I'm intrigued to see what you think! I can tell you this, there are only six more episodes left in THIS SEASON! Yes, that's right, there will be MORE! READ AND REVIEW!


	21. Episode 116: Out of Options

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko…**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Two episodes in two days…YESSSSS! Sweet success! This is Part One of the two-episode 'Out of Time' arc, as I've nicknamed it… And, oh, by the way…only five episodes left following this…until the SEASON finale, of course…**

**Episode 116: Out of Options (1)**

The next morning…

Joey heard a soft knock at his door and wondered who it could be at 7 o' clock on a weekend. He slowly got up, wincing at a sore spot on his chest as he moved to answer it…and was slightly surprised when he saw Jacob's face at the door.

"Hey, Joe, can I come in?" he asked hesitantly as Joey smiled.

"Sure, bro, not a problem," he said as Jacob came in and sat down on his bed. Joey noticed that he seemed a little distant and hesitant, and wondered what was going on. "Okay, you're usually not this quiet; what's going on?" he asked as Jacob sighed and took a long time to think out his response.

"_He really doesn't remember…that's good…less I have to explain… I know what I need to tell him, but I can't tell him…_" Jacob fumed to himself. "_I hate lying to him…gosh; I wish I knew what to do! I…there is something else I can say without lying to him…_" Jacob thought as he finally looked up with ambiguous tears in his eyes…

"Joey, today's the anniversary…" he said in a choked voice, holding back a sob as Joey's eyes flickered in recognition and hurt for his friend. He had forgotten…today was the anniversary of Jake's parents' deaths… Jake had never told him how his parents had died, and Joey had never asked; he just knew that today of all days, his friend needed him…

"Shh…" Joey soothed as he held Jacob in a friendly embrace while tears began to stream down Jake's face. "I'm here for you…always…" he whispered.

"_I know…_" Jacob thought as he realized that saying aloud that today was the anniversary of his parents' deaths had hit him harder than he thought it would… "_You're all the family I have, in a way…_"

"I want them back…" he whispered as he continued to sob. "I want them back…"

An hour later, after Jacob had calmed down and cleaned up, he went down and shared a quick breakfast with Joey before his friend went off to Computer Science, the only weekend class at Kadic. This left Jacob to sit on his own for a while, but around lunchtime, the others finally appeared in the cafeteria, and Jake slipped over to join them, taking his seat on Aelita's left.

"Morning, guys," he said as he tried to keep the tremor out of his voice, but as soon as he said the two words, Aelita looked at him in an instant and knew something was up.

"You know you can't fool me," she said simply. "What is it?" she asked as Jacob took a deep breath and replied slowly.

"Today's the anniversary of my parents' deaths at XANA's hands…" he said simply, and Ulrich and Yumi smiled sadly, knowing the hurt their friend must be going through, while Aelita put a hand on his shoulder.

"He's taken so much from us…" she said. "That's why we have to win," she reminded him with steely eyes as Jacob saw the firm gaze and nodded as he looked up to face the group for the first time.

"And we _will_ win," he reminded himself as the gang nodded. "What's the plan for today?" he asked Jeremy.

"Um…I'm not sure yet," he admitted sheepishly. "The data we found isn't finished deciphering yet, and won't be for another couple of days. And there's not been any sign of an attack that I've found…" he said, trailing off. Jacob nodded as Jeremy thought for a moment before continuing. "I guess we can just take it easy today…" he finished warily, causing Jacob and the others to laugh.

"Famous last words, Einstein," William chuckled.

"He's right, though; it's a weekend and nothing bad is going on," Yumi pointed out. "Why don't we go out and grab some lunch?" she asked, to which there were numerous nods of approval. "Our usual place?" More nods of approval, at which point Jacob laughed.

"Well, then what are we doing sitting here?" he pointed out as the Warriors headed out for lunch.

As the gang passed the computer wing, the entrance doors were open due to a broken air system. From inside his classroom, Joey heard the gang laughing as they passed by, and wondered, "_What are they up to now?_" Just then, he was saved by the lunch bell, and grabbed his things quickly, racing out of the classroom to catch up with them.

"Hey, guys!" he said cheerily as he came up beside Jacob. "Where you off to?"

"Oh, we were just going to grab some lunch in town," Odd said invitingly. "You're welcome to join us if you like," he said as Jacob shot him a warning glance.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Joey smiled as he gave Jacob a pat on the shoulder before walking with the gang into town…

At the diner in town, the gang had just gotten their food: salads for Jeremy and Aelita, a massive triple-thick burger for Odd (of course!), a Japanese stir-fry for Yumi, a chicken sandwich for Joey and Ulrich, and a double plate of nachos which Marth and William were sharing (er…devouring).

"Man, this is great…" Joey said between bites as Jacob laughed.

"Always a sucker for food…" he smiled as Aelita laughed. Jeremy smiled at the homey feel of the whole outing, but was startled by a faint buzz and beeping noise from his bag. He jumped, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was, but knowing it was. He very discreetly pulled out his laptop and checked it while Joey wasn't paying attention, and saw on the SuperScan an activated Tower on the Ice Sector Replika. He groaned as he put his computer away and caught Jacob's glance on his way up. Jacob's eyes flickered in frustration, but he nodded as Jeremy stood up.

"Sorry, guys, but we're going to have to cut this a little short," he said in a frustrated tone as Aelita stood as well. "Apparently we're needed elsewhere…" he said, putting a slight hint of emphasis on the word elsewhere. The rest of the gang caught on immediately as they stood up.

"Back at the school?" Joey asked, and Jeremy shook his head.

"No, I…we can't really discuss it right now." Joey nodded in understanding, but was frustrated underneath the façade. His frustration went away when Jacob didn't move.

"I'll pay," Jake said as Jeremy's eyes said a silent 'Thank you'. "And I'm not done yet. I'll sit and walk back with you, bro," he said to Joey, who smiled.

"Awesome," he grinned as Jeremy and the others said a quick goodbye and then raced out, heading for the far side of town and the bridge to the Factory…

Once they were out of earshot and had gotten outside of the diner, Odd turned to Jeremy and groaned, "XANA just doesn't know how to give us a break!"

"I know, Odd; really… The activated Tower's in the Ice Replika. I want as many of you as possible so we can get this cleared up quickly…" He jumped in shock as a laser shot impacted the ground right near his feet. "What the…?" he exclaimed as he looked up in time to see one of the antennas from one of the local radio towers glowing red, and he jumped out of the way as it shot another laser blast at him. As the shots continued raining down, Jeremy yelled, "Run for it!" and the gang did, amidst the cries of the now freaked-out townspeople. When they got to the edge of town, Ulrich and Marth said, "We'll help the rest of the town! You guys deactivate the Tower!" before bolting back into the fray. Jeremy just nodded as the remaining five of them ducked into the Factory entrance and ran for the Lift. Once they were inside, Jeremy said hastily, "I'm sending you guys to the Ice Sector. Deactivate that Tower fast, before anyone gets hurt."

"Got it," the four others nodded as Jeremy got off at the Computer Lab and sent the others down to the Scanners. As soon as he had gotten to the computer screens, he gasped in panic as he saw the Core displays. The first shield was weakening and there were a TON of monsters in the Core Room. As the gang prepped in the Scanner Room, Jeremy came over the intercom and voiced the new plan in a panicked, breathless hiss.

"Change of plans! The Core's under attack too! Odd, Yumi, you two are going to Sector Five to stop XANA from wiping out the Core! Aelita, take William and head for the Ice Replika to deactivate the Tower!"

"Roger," Aelita said as the Scanner doors closed.

Transfer Aelita, Transfer William, Transfer Yumi!

Scanner Aelita, Scanner William, Scanner Yumi!

Virtualization!

Transfer Odd!

Scanner Odd!

Virtualization!

A few moments later, Odd and Yumi virtualized in the Arena; while Aelita and William appeared in the Skid Garage…

"_Okay, guys, time to divide and conquer!_" Jeremy said as the four Warriors nodded.

"We're on it, Jeremy!" Aelita said as she and William raced to their warp pads.

"_Energize!_" Jeremy said as he teleported the pair into the Skid. As Aelita appeared in the cockpit, she gripped the controls and activated the com-link.

"Cast off! Full steam ahead!" she said as she released the docking mechanisms and blasted the Skid upwards out of the hangar. She steered the Skid out of the North Pole and stopped for only a brief moment before diving into the Digital Sea…

Meanwhile, Odd and Yumi quickly made their way through the tunnel to the Core Zone, and came out of the tunnel to see a massive chasm with a plethora of floating platforms that were moving about and providing a difficult path to get to the other side. Odd just looked at Yumi and grinned.

"Shall we?" he asked as he leaped onto the first platform, which almost flipped under his weight. "Whoa!" he said as he flailed his arms to keep balance.

"Odd!" Yumi yelled as she shot her arm out and pulled him back to the main ground as he caught his breath.

"Well, that was interesting…" he said as he looked up. "Hey, Einstein, can we have some vehicles?" No answer. "Einstein…?" Still nothing. "Oh, boy…" Odd groaned as he realized they were on their own for the time being…

As Joey and Jacob finished their food, Jacob happened to glance outside, and all of a sudden realized he was hearing the muffled screams of frightened townspeople as he saw laser fire raining down from numerous antennas on top of the city's buildings. He looked at Joey, who hadn't noticed a thing yet, and one word crept into his mind…

"_XANA…_"

As the Skid blasted out of the Access Tunnel, Aelita quickly punched the lights and hit the thrusters, causing the Skid to rocket forward. Neither she nor William spoke for the longest time, knowing their mission at hand, but all of a sudden, the Digital Sea turned crimson, and out of the mirrors, Aelita saw a trio of Kalamars trailing them in the distance.

"William, do you think you can handle all of them?" she asked worriedly as William locked his steely gaze on the beasts in his mirror.

"Yeah, let me go, Aelita," he said as Aelita, worried, hit the button.

"NavSkid away," she said as the NavSkid released itself from the Skid and William whipped around to face the Kalamars…

"Come and get me," he grunted as the three behemoths launched themselves at him. One of them tried to latch onto his NavSkid and drill into it, but William was quicker and squirmed out of its grasp. He growled and let off a well-timed torpedo that impacted the first one, destroying it on contact. He let out a "Yes", but it was short-lived when something slammed into him, sending him sideways as he screamed in frustration. "Oh, no you don't!" he growled as he let off a second torpedo which blew the second Kalamar to pieces. Just before he could smile, though, he was sent flying by an impact from his left, and he yelled in shock as his NavSkid was sent spinning end over end, lights flickering and controls malfunctioning. When he stopped rolling and looked around, he gasped in surprise… The Sea had turned blue again and he was not anywhere near the Skid that he could see. He pounded his fist on the dash and let a tear drip down his usually stoic features.

"I'm not getting out of this one, huh…?" he asked himself stupidly as he prayed for Jeremy or the Princess to find him, while drifting further and further away…

Meanwhile, Odd and Yumi had finally made it across to the other side of the chasm and raced for the elevator leading to the Core Room. They hopped on and after a few moments arrived at the passage leading to the Key that opened the door to the Core. Yumi ran over and pressed it quickly, and the door creaked open. The pair raced in and was floored by the sight that met their eyes as they looked around. At least a dozen Creepers and a massive swarm of Mantas were positioned strategically around the spiral staircase to attack the shields from every angle. Odd just mouthed, "Crap," and Yumi's eyes glittered in frustration as she watched the first shield give way. This gave her new resolve, and she threw her fans, taking out a Manta and a Creeper, causing the rest to turn and notice the pair of them. They charged their lasers, and Odd and Yumi just looked at each other, knowing they were impossibly outnumbered, and smiled.

"We've got to try, don't we?" Odd asked as Yumi nodded, and together, they charged towards an impossible firefight…

In Kadic City…

"Run!" Marth told an older man as he helped him inside his home while dodging more laser blasts. Once the older man was inside his home, Marth turned to see if he could find Ulrich, who had two burn marks in his shorts where he had been struck by two of XANA's lasers. He found Ulrich in an alley, taking cover behind a Dumpster as lasers continued to rain down on the town…

"They're starting to get the idea," Ulrich panted as Marth nodded. "The problem is, we can't get to the Factory…"

"We're trapped…" Marth sighed as he hoped the others were close to finding a solution and deactivating the Tower…

Meanwhile, in the Computer Lab, Jeremy heard Aelita scream, "_I've lost William!_" and he immediately panicked.

"What?"

"_I've lost William…_" she said as a teary edge crept into her voice. "_A Kalamar knocked his NavSkid away and I can't locate his signal…_" she hissed worriedly as Jeremy started a search.

"I'll find him, Aelita…I promise…" he said softly as he was startled by another alarm. He pulled up the screen and saw the SuperScan blinking. He stared at it in defeat, seeing the blip of an activated Tower in the Forest Sector. Maybe out of force of habit, or out of desperation, he whipped out his phone and rifled off a message containing three words:

To: Jake

Need you. Now!

At the diner, Jacob was finishing his last bites of lunch when he jumped as the building shook violently. Joey noticed this and looked up and out the window just in time to see a pair of lasers striking the foundation beams on the outside of the building, and as the building shook again, Joey noticed the roof cracking under the stress, and he saw the ceiling begin to buckle right over their heads…

"Jacob!" he screeched as he shoved Jake out of the way, and not a moment later, the entire building collapsed under the repeated laser fire. A huge cloud of dust rose up from the collapse, and Jacob groaned as he brushed a coating of rubble off of himself and sat up slowly, his eyes widening as the ruins of the building alerted him to what had happened. All of a sudden, he realized…

"Joey!" he screeched in terror as he began digging through the rubble next to him, trying to find his friend. Joey had just saved his life…he couldn't be… Jacob held his breath as he dug, his fingers growing bloody and sore as he finally felt a handful of curly brown hair in his fingers. He quickly cleared the rubble away and saw Joey's head and torso, but when he tried to clear the rest of the ruins off his friend, he saw a piece of the foundation beam on Joey's waist. He knew it was too heavy for him to move, and he was panicking at Joey's dead appearance as Joey's eyes slowly fluttered open. He wasn't dead!

"Unh…Jacob…get help…" he mumbled amidst the intense pain radiating through his body. He knew he couldn't move, and that his friend was his only hope. "I'll…be…okay…" he tried to gasp out as he let himself stop moving, knowing he had to conserve his strength. Jacob looked terrified as Joey's eyes closed, but he whispered, though in pain, "I won't give up..." and Jacob nodded as he stood up.

"Don't give up on me…Joey…" Jacob whispered through tears as his phone buzzed. He picked it up and saw Jeremy's message. He closed his phone and said, "I'm going to get help. Don't give up on me…" as he ran for the Factory. There wasn't much time…

"I won't…" Joey whispered as he heard his friend's footsteps grow fainter and fainter. At least, he would do his best not to…

Jacob ran faster than he ever had before to the Factory entrance and swung down the rope to the Lift without hesitation. He pressed the button and was in the Computer Lab a few moments later. Seeing a distressed Jeremy, Jacob's eyes widened and he ran over to his friend.

"Jeremy, Joey's trapped in the rubble of the diner and I'm worried he may not last! How are they doing?" As soon as Jeremy shook his head in failure, Jacob knew something had gone drastically wrong… "What's wrong!" Jacob screamed as Jeremy looked up at him with defeated eyes.

"William's lost in the Digital Sea…Yumi and Odd are fighting a war for the Core they can't win…and there's another Tower active to boot…we can't be in three places at once, and even if Aelita goes on without William and deactivates the first Tower, the second one will still keep the destruction going…XANA's finally beaten us…we're out of options…"

"You called me here," Jacob said insistently. "You must have had a plan…"

"Maybe…but it's a long shot…" Jeremy said in a whisper. "Take the controls. I'm going to Lyoko," he said. "I'm the only hope we have at deactivating the other Tower and even having a chance…" he said, trailing off as an idea shot through Jacob's head and he looked intently at Jeremy.

"Send me…" he said, and Jeremy let this register for a moment before gaping in shock.

"Are you crazy?" he shrieked, his voice rising a couple octaves in fury, or maybe panic. "We still don't know if your powers are stable, and if not…then we're all screwed…" he hissed in defeat.

"We may not know, but I'm the only one with enough strength to even have a shot at stopping XANA at this point. No offense, but your skills are needed here right now; not fighting," he said as Jeremy stared at him for a moment before sighing in submission.

"You're right…I'll focus on finding William. I'll send you to the Forest Sector to deactivate the Tower…"

"As soon as I do, send me to the Core. I'll be the most help there if this monster army is as bad as you say it is…" Jacob added as he made his way to the Lift. Before the doors could close, Jeremy added three more words.

"Jacob…be careful," he stressed as the doors shut.

"_I will…_" he thought as he descended to the Scanner Room…

Jeremy's hands shook as his fingers raced across the keys. This was the biggest risk he had ever taken…sending a Warrior who could feasibly destroy Lyoko and everyone along with it…back with no idea of what could happen… He almost stopped himself from giving the command, but sighed, knowing this was their only chance at victory…

"Transfer Jacob…" he said, his voice shaking.

Jacob shook in nervous excitement as the light ring scanned his body. He was going back to Lyoko! Finally! But he set his gaze to steel as he rose up and felt the wind swirl around him. He knew he had a job to do. He had the weight of everyone's fates on his shoulders…

"Scanner Jacob…" Jeremy said, his voice shaking even more as his finger hovered over the last key…

Jacob closed his eyes as he knew what was about to happen, and before the last wind swept him away and the light enveloped his body, he whispered a silent prayer for strength and hope…

"VIRTUALIZATION!" Jeremy yelled as Jacob felt his body vanish in the flash of light. It…was time…

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

LW94: I'm not going to say anything like I usually do because it's a two-part episode, except…READ AND REVIEW!


	22. Episode 117:  Under Control

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Part Two of the 'Out of Time' arc…happy reading, guys and gals!**

**Episode 117: Under Control (2)**

As he felt himself being transported through the virtual tunnels, Jacob felt a rush like he hadn't in weeks; no, months, since the accident. He knew he was the last hope for everyone's safety, but he couldn't help at marvel just how good it felt to be going back on Lyoko. Of course, he wished it could be under better circumstances, but…

A few moments later, the familiar zipping noise was heard as Jake's virtual matrix began to appear over the Forest Sector. Everything felt as if in slow motion as his virtual form slowly solidified, and after a few long moments, he dropped to the ground, and amazingly, landed on his feet.

"Huh," he mused as he stood up and looked around. "I guess it's like riding a bike. You never really forget." As he gazed around, he could see that everything was just as he remembered it, except, things looked even more vivid and in focus to him than they ever had before. Maybe a result of his time away, or something…he really didn't know. As he looked down at himself, he saw that Jeremy had went ahead and updated his profile with the new updates that he had been designing for the group. Jeremy was good, but Jacob thought to himself, "_These new tricks really are something…_" His deep purple bodysuit had been updated with a matrix of thin silver striping; just enough to make it really look sleek and stand out. In the center of his chest was a translucent circle, pulsing with a faint glow (think _Iron Man_, people, but Lyoko-style), where he knew the energy crystal was lying dormant. As he summoned his Energy Fields, he quickly shifted through all of his weapons, seeing that in addition to the sabres and boomerangs he could create before, he could now create a sort of energy whip, as well as a mace-style club. "Cool…" he said as he tested his elemental powers. Once he knew that all was in order, he looked up to the faintly glowing sky.

"I'm good, here, Einstein," he affirmed, and Jeremy sighed in relief.

"_Good. Now head for the Tower. It's at coordinates 52__o__43'._"

"Got it. Send the—"

"Already on it," Jeremy replied as the Overwheel appeared a moment later. Jacob nodded and hopped on hastily, firing the thrusters and putting on maximum speed as he headed for the Tower…

"Hmm…" William growled as the lights in his NavSkid slowly flickered on and off. "I wonder…" he said as he flicked a few switches, shutting off the shields and lights. "Maybe this will give me enough power to…" he muttered as he hit a switch on the dashboard. "Yes!" he said as the hazard beacon came to life…

Aelita jumped as she piloted the Skid around, searching desperately for William, because an alarm went off on her console, with a blinking light on the tracking monitor that could only be…

"William!" she said in relief and joy as she righted the Skid and set it on course towards the beacon…

"Ungh!" Odd groaned as he was knocked flying backwards by a laser to the chest from one of the Mantas. His chest sparked as he struggled to get up, but growled as he saw the monsters approach. He and Yumi were about a third of the way up the spiral staircase, but they were running out of time. He could see the second shield starting to weaken, and if it went…there was no telling if they would survive or not…

"Laser Arrow!" he screamed as he fired a volley of arrows at the Mantas, who evaded most of the shots, but he was able to blast two of them, who shrieked before exploding in a flash of light. "Yeah!" he cheered as he shrieked and dropped to a knee. A Creeper had snuck up from behind him and blasted him in the back. He whipped around and ripped into its head with his claws, causing it to shriek and explode, but as he whirled back around to face the closing Mantas, he knew that hope was dimming…

"This is not good…" he whispered as he readied to fight again…

Meanwhile, back in the Forest, Jacob was approaching the Tower, but as he got to about five hundred meters off, he saw a flash of light in the distance, and he heard Jeremy tense up as he hit the desk in frustration.

"_You've got company_," he said quickly. No, duh! Jacob didn't voice this sentiment out loud, but instead skidded to a halt as he flung the Overwheel at the enemy, who jumped over it and landed with a shower of sparks. Sparks…? Oh…

"Uh, Jeremy…our electric friend is back…" Jacob said hesitantly. "And he's brought company…" he added as a group of five blue and silver spiders (yes, eight-legged spiders, as opposed to Tarantulas), and a Tarantula, crawled up menacingly to join their leader…

"_You…_" the mercenary (see Episode: Close Combat, if you don't remember) growled in a grated, distorted voice. Jacob looked at him and saw the eye of XANA in his pupils. This fight would be the real deal, all right… The boy drew his sword and leveled it at Jacob's chest as Jacob summoned an Energy Field and lengthened it into an energy sword after a moment. Once it solidified, he stared at the boy, who showed no emotion at all…and rushed him.

"Guess I don't have a choice!" Jacob growled as he rushed in to match blows with XANA's pawn…

At the diner…

"Ungh!" Joey screeched as another piece of rubble fell from the ruined skeleton of the diner and landed on top of him. His body was in so much pain now; he could hardly stand it… He wanted so badly to just give in, and let sleep wash over him… No! Jacob said not to give up…he had to keep faith in that…

"Hurry…" he whispered as a drop of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth…

William was still floating alone, and was about to finally give up hope when a voice crackled over his com-link…

"William!" Aelita called as she approached where his signal was beeping on her sonar. William heard her voice and sent up a silent prayer of thanks as he righted his NavSkid.

"Aelita?" he asked as she sighed in relief when he saw the shadow of the Skid approaching.

"Oh, thank goodness I've finally found you!" she sighed in relief as she ran her fingers over the keypad to bring him in. "Recovery!" she said as the electric braces reattached themselves to the Skid. "We've lost a lot of time!" she explained as she steered the Skid towards the nearest Data Hub. "We've got to deactivate the Tower in a hurry!" she said. "So we can get back to Lyoko…"

"What? There's _two_ Towers?" William exclaimed in shock as Aelita nodded grimly.

"_No!_" they heard Jeremy yell over the communications. "_We had no other choice. You guys couldn't be in two places at once. So…I sent Jacob to Lyoko to deactivate the second Tower._"

"What?" Aelita hissed, and then added softly, "Do you think that's a good idea?"

"_It was the only option we had_," he replied, and Aelita calmed slightly. "_I still don't know if his powers are under control or not, but…we'll…we'll see…_" he said hesitantly as Aelita had arrived at the Data Hub.

"Ready? Hyperfluid aspiration in three seconds…"

"Ungh!" Jacob groaned as he slammed his sword against the boy's blade, causing a menacing shower of sparks to erupt from the point of impact as the two struggled for supremacy. The rush of power caused a small explosion, and both boys were thrust back in the cloud of smoke… As it cleared, they were both panting, and readied their blades again as Jacob was suddenly struck from behind by a laser and fell to his knees. The Tarantula growled in victory as the spiders swarmed over their prey, pinning him to the ground as the mercenary laughed maniacally and walked over to him, standing over him with his blade positioned at Jacob's throat…

"_It's over…_" he growled in that distorted voice as Jacob sighed in defeat. Wait! There had to be something… All of a sudden, an idea hit him like a ton of bricks, and he closed his eyes as he prayed Jeremy would forgive him for what he was about to do…

"I hope this works…" he said almost inaudibly as he summoned every wisp of energy from the recesses of his body… His chest began to glow with a blinding white light, and the mercenary gasped in shock as he took a step backwards… A burst of white flames engulfed Jacob's body, and his aura began to glow brighter as his eyes blasted open, glowing pure white as he blasted up, throwing the bugs off of him and back to their master… He charged a sparkling ball of white energy between his hands as he let loose a massive, explosive energy beam that caused the spiders to disintegrate under the enormous energy. The Tarantula just shrieked as it tried to run, but Jacob simply laughed and shot a lightning bolt at it, causing it to explode in a shower of sparks as he turned then to the boy, who took a step back in surprise, but still held that steely, blank gaze…

"_Now we're even…_" Jacob growled as the boy readied his sword. This was about to get interesting…

Jeremy just watched everything that was going on in utter despair as he had flashbacks of what had happened last time. He sighed and shook his head in defeat as he moaned a soft, keening wail and stared blankly at the screen…

"I was afraid of this exact scenario…" he muttered. "It's over…we've lost…"

Meanwhile, Aelita and William had finally made it to the entry gate of the Ice Replika, and Aelita rotated the Skid to vertical as she punched in a command code to the keypad.

"Digital Key, engaged," she said as a beam of light shot out from the top of the Skid and impacted the Eye of XANA on the Access Gate. It flashed after a moment, verifying the passcode, and the tunnel opened as Aelita piloted the Skid inside. It exploded upward out of the pale blue of the Digital Sea below them, and William looked around at the menacing glaciers and ice pillars surrounding them as Aelita quickly secured the Skid to a nearby Tower.

"Docking…" she said as wisps of pink light connected the Skid to the Tower. "Skid secure," she finished as Jeremy activated the Tower in green for their purposes. "Energize!" she added as she and William disembarked from the Skid…

Once they were on the ground, Jeremy came over the com-link as their vehicles appeared in front of them. "_You guys have got to book it!_" he said, his voice rising as he started to panic. "_Jacob's in his Lyoko State again and I was afraid all along that would happen. The only way we can weaken XANA's control now is if you two deactivate that Tower!_"

"We're on it, Jeremy," Aelita said worriedly as she and William took off at top speed in the direction of the Tower. A couple minutes passed in silence before Aelita heard Jeremy mutter, "_Oh, crap…_"

"Jeremy? What's wrong?"

At the same time…

Yumi and Odd were about two-thirds of the way up the staircase and were beginning to make a little progress towards the Core, but Yumi could see that the second shield layer was weakening dramatically. "_A couple more hits and…_" She didn't even want to think about it. As she was trying to climb, she hadn't noticed a pair of Mantas creeping behind her, and they charged their lasers as she slipped and fell backwards.

"Unh!" she grunted as she quickly climbed back up, but as she did she turned around and saw the beasts, and one of them shrieked as they prepared to fire…

"_I've failed…_" she hissed to herself as all of a sudden, she heard a grunt from far to her right, and…

Odd had seen this whole scene unfolding and knew that something bad was going to result either way. So, instead of trying to fire and risking missing the Mantas, he knew there was a more effective way to handle this. He backed up until he was against the wall of the staircase, and ran at top speed, prepping and launching himself across the gap to try and get to Yumi as the Mantas fired…

"Unh!" Yumi heard as she saw Odd fly in front of her and take the blasts from the Mantas. He smiled weakly as he vanished into a thousand white panels, and Yumi shrieked in frustration as she hurled her fans out in anger, slicing through the two Mantas and destroying them. As her fans came back to her, she leaped upwards, trying to get to the Core before it was too late, and knowing that she was now completely outmatched…

"Ugh!" Odd groaned as the Scanner opened and he punched the side of the tube. "I'm sorry, Yumi…" he muttered to himself as he realized they were slowly losing all hope…

Meanwhile, back on the Ice Replika…

"_Don't worry about it, you two_," Jeremy reassured them as they approached the Tower, well-guarded by a pair of Megatanks. These Megatanks, however, were unlike anything Aelita had ever seen before. They were colored deep crimson, with evil-looking spikes protruding from their shells. Aelita noticed that they didn't have a seam running through the middle where they would normally open and fire, which she found very strange.

"Jeremy?" she asked in confusion. "We're near the Tower, but it's being guarded by…well, we don't really know what," she admitted. "Do you know what these things are?" she asked as he scanned them quickly. "I'll send you a visual," she added as Jeremy took a quick look at the two spheres before replying.

"_Uh, they're Megatanks, but not like the normal ones you're used to. These Megatanks seem to be impervious to any attacks_," he said, which was proven a moment later when William tried to blast one of the Megatanks with an energy pulse from his sword, which it absorbed without effect. It turned to face him, and rolled forward with amazing speed as he jumped out of the way. He and Aelita moved back quickly, out of range for the moment, and Jeremy continued speaking. "_Point proven. Anyways, they don't have a laser like the normal ones, but they can crush you just like that_," he informed them, snapping his fingers for emphasis. "_The only way I can figure for you to get rid of them is to lure them over the side into the Digital Sea_," he finished as William nodded.

"Then that's what we'll do!" he said as he yelled, "Super Smoke!" and vanished in a puff of silver light. He wormed his way around to the first Megatank and reformed, running in a circle around it until it whirred and prepared to try and charge him. He stopped and smirked, a plan already in his mind as he activated his Super Smoke again. The Megatank noticed this, and followed the trail of smoke, picking up speed and going ever-faster until William reached the edge and veered off at the last moment. The Megatank, on the other hand, could not change direction that rapidly, and flew over the edge of the Sector, falling into the Digital Sea and leaving a pillar of light in its wake. William smirked as he reformed, and laughed. "They really are that stupid," he remarked.

Meanwhile, Aelita had a far easier tactic in mind as she waved her hand over her bracelet and summoned her wings. She took off into the air, and watched as the Megatank tracked her every movement. "_This is too easy_," she thought as she flew out over the Digital Sea, where there was no land underneath her.

"Come and get me," she taunted, and the Megatank, in all its idiocy, complied, zooming forward and right over the cliff… It vanished into the Digital Sea, and the customary pillar of light appeared where it had fallen. Aelita smiled at how easy that had been, and landed in front of the Tower, William coming up right behind her.

"We are so good," he laughed…

Back in the Forest Sector, Jacob and the mercenary were matching each other blow for blow, and neither side could seem to get the other hand, even with Jacob in his Lyoko State. Finally, Jacob just paused a brief moment as he studied the boy, and realized the flaw he could exploit… The boy rushed at him, and Jacob chuckled to himself at the simplicity of this solution as he sidestepped and tried to trip the boy, but the boy had seen it coming. It was like a chess match; the two of them matching wits perfectly as he whirled around and laid open a wound on Jacob's shoulder. Jacob cried out in pain as the wound sparked and healed over, but the glow in his eyes did not fade as his fury was triggered. He growled, "_This ends NOW, XANA!_" as he blasted a massive lightning storm at his foe, who responded with a similar lightning blast of his own. The two bolts met in mid-stream, crashing together with a thunderous bang and causing lightning to erupt all around them as Jacob's eyes glowed brighter and brighter. Finally, Jacob screeched and injected even more power into his lightning bolts, and the boy cried out in shock as his lightning was not enough, and he took the full brunt of Jacob's electric energy. It knocked him back a hundred feet at least, and caused him to pant and moan in agony as he struggled to get up, his body sparking as he looked up slowly. The sky had grown dark as Jacob noticed the Tower glowing brighter red. All of a sudden, he saw energy flowing from the nearby cables running across the Sector to the Tower, and he gasped when a set of red ripples appeared on the front of it. He watched in stunned shock as XANA emerged from the Tower, in the same form he had taken previously (see Episode: Firestorm, if you don't remember). The boy immediately bowed to his master, who growled in dissatisfaction and fury as he looked away in embarrassment. XANA, however, stepped forwards until he was face-to-face with Jacob, who tensed up, preparing for a fight, but XANA laughed as he held his hands up.

"_I'm not here to fight you, if you hadn't noticed by my lack of weapon_," he said coolly as Jacob did not relax. "_Now, now, I know you've been in control of your powers the whole time…_" he whispered in an evil hiss as Jacob flinched back in surprise. In the Computer Lab, Jeremy's eyes widened in surprise, and then in understanding as the lack of explosive behavior and loss of control all of a sudden made sense… "_I've been watching you this entire time. Had you lost control like you did before, there would be nothing left of this place; you and I both know that_," he pointed out. "_Your power is far beyond anything I've ever seen before… I want to claim it…_" he said softly and coolly, causing Jacob to shudder. "_I want to offer you a choice: join me. Together, with your power and my wit, we would be invincible!_" Jacob just shook in fury as the question was asked, and let the glow in his eyes fade, so XANA could see the steely hardness in them when he replied.

"Never!" he hissed. "I'll never join you, XANA!"

"Your Tower awaits, Princess," William reminded Aelita as she nodded and entered the Tower. She rose up to the second platform and placed her hand on the Interface…

"Unh!" Yumi grunted against the strain of holding off the lasers form the remaining monsters. She had made it to the platform where the Core floated behind her, but both shield layers were gone, and it was all she could to keep the lasers away from the Core, and she was running out of energy…

"Come on, guys; hurry up…" she whispered in a groan as she continued to hold off the monsters' laser fire…

AELITA

CODE:

LYOKO

"Tower deactivated," Aelita said as the screens fell to the bottom of the Tower and flickered out…

"_Well, as you wish then…_" XANA hissed as he summoned his sword in a cloud of smoke from the Digital Sea. "_I didn't come here for a fight, but you leave me no choice…_" He stopped suddenly as he felt his power weaken, and he laughed. Jacob thought it did sound like a teenager's laugh, but with a twisted, distorted ring to it. "_Well, I guess you lot aren't as pitiful as I give you credit for…_" he admitted. "_Aelita must have deactivated my other Tower. No matter. The purpose of this attack has been served…_" he said menacingly as he beckoned to the mercenary, who wordlessly looked at Jacob before diving into the Digital Sea. XANA looked back at Jacob one last time and added, "_This is not over…_" before vanishing in a cloud of black smoke. Knowing that XANA was not going to try and stop him now, Jacob raced into the Tower…

As Yumi tried to block one of the Manta's lasers, a Creeper took advantage of her momentary distraction and blasted her square in the chest, sending her flying backwards and knocking her fans out of her hands. She looked at this situation, and bowed her head, preparing for the worst, but all of a sudden, the monsters must have sensed their master's departure, because they stopped firing, and a moment later, were called back to XANA as they vanished in a shower of red dust. Yumi just watched this, and sighed in relief as she let exhaustion overcome her and devirtualize her…

"I don't know how, but they did it…" she whispered as she vanished into a thousand white panels…

Jake floated solemnly to the second platform and landed gracefully though it had been a while since he had done this. He walked over to the Interface, and pressed his hand to it…

JACOB

CODE:

LYOKO

"Tower deactivated," he said softly as he watched the screens fall…

As Joey was all but prepared to give up hope that help would ever come, he heard the screams of the townspeople subside, and he realized that the laser fire had stopped all around him… He sighed with as much breath as he could muster, and realized that, although he didn't know what had happened or what his friend had done, Jacob had come through…

Jeremy's fingers flew over the keyboard as he punched in a command without hesitation, knowing it needed to be done to prevent any further damage…

"Return to the Past, NOW!" he said powerfully as the white sphere of light enveloped the town, and Joey relaxed as his fingers twitched rhythmically and his vision was replaced with a blinding glow…

"I can't believe we pulled it off…" Aelita said quietly as Jeremy nodded.

"Yeah, me either. The good news is: there's no lasting damage; the town was repaired by the Return Trip, and no one was killed in the destruction," he pointed out. Jacob sighed, thinking of Joey, who thankfully didn't remember anything, along with the rest of the town. Jeremy turned to Jacob then, a question burning on his mind. "Jacob, I was meaning to ask you. Was what XANA said true? Did you really have control of your powers?" Jacob just looked at him for a moment and then it clicked in his head.

"Oh…yes, I did," he nodded, and Aelita and Marth smiled while Jeremy's eyes showed relief and thankfulness that Jake would be able to go back and continue fighting on Lyoko. "I know that I can't use the crystal's energy all the time; it takes too much out of me. Jeremy and I learned that if I use the crystal's power too often, it will drain its energy until I can't even virtualize onto Lyoko until it recharges. So I have to be super careful about how and when I use it. But we also learned that the power is fueled by my emotions, I think…" he said. "I just have to make sure that I'm focused on what I'm using my powers for and I'll be able to control the Lyoko State when I activate it. Basically, I can't let my emotions get the best of me," he explained. "But I had full awareness of who I was and what I was doing this time while I was fighting," he added, and Jeremy nodded.

"You're right. You never lost control," he pointed out as Marth and William gave Jacob a thumbs-up of approval, and Jacob smiled.

"That's great," Ulrich replied as Jacob finally sighed.

"Now, is it too much to ask for us to get a day off?" he laughed in mock sarcasm, and everyone burst out laughing because they knew their friend felt that he was back to stay…

LW94: The countdown continues…we're down to four now! Haha, READ AND REVIEW!

Next time:

**Episode 118: Taelia Returns**

When most of the gang is trapped by dangerous vines that seem to be XANA-related, Jacob and Odd are their only hope of stopping XANA's latest scheme, but things are complicated by the return of an old acquaintance…on Code Lyoko: Reloaded.


	23. Episode 118:  Taelia Returns, Part I

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**A/N: The countdown continues…This will probably be my last update until after AP exams and my Army All-American Marching Band audition. Wish me luck in that, and happy reading! I'll be back in a week!**

**Episode 118: Taelia Returns, Part I**

"Morning, everybody!" Marth said cheerily as he sat down to breakfast with the gang. Jacob slid over to make room, and Marth took the seat offered without hesitation. Jake smiled before going back to his breakfast, and it was a while before anyone spoke.

"So, what's the plan?" William finally asked. "Anything specific?"

"Um? Not sure yet…" Jeremy replied slowly. "I'm just waiting to see whether or not the data will have finished decoding yet…" he trailed off. "But we'll see; I'll let you guys know," he finished optimistically as the warning bell rang.

"Ugh…time for class already?" Jacob groaned as they gang went their separate ways for the morning…

In Science, Jacob was furiously trying to copy Mrs. Hertz's notes so he could go to work on the decryption keys to try and speed up the decoding process when Principal Delmas walked into the room with someone in tow. The girl was about Aelita's height, with short-cut, dark pink hair.

"Good morning, class; I trust you are all doing well this morning. Suzanne, I'm sorry to interrupt…"

"Oh, it's no problem, Headmaster…" she said as he continued.

"…but I have a new student to introduce to you all. This is Taelia Winthrop…" As Jacob let a look of confusion pass over him, Jeremy's eyes widened in shock, as he knew EXACTLY who this girl was… "Some of you may remember her, as she visited Kadic Academy as part of an education program once before, and is now boarding full-time with us here at the Academy. I trust that you all will treat her well, and if I hear any reports to the contrary, there will be consequences…" Delmas warned as he walked out. Taelia looked expectantly at Mrs. Hertz, who beckoned her to an open seat next to Jeremy, who scowled as Taelia took her seat…

"_Whatever the reason…she can't have a good one for being here…_" he mused to himself. "_Not a good reason at all…_"

At lunch, Jacob met the gang in the cafeteria, and took his usual seat next to Aelita once he had gotten his lunch. He looked over at Jeremy, hoping for some good news, but he was distracted, staring over Jacob's shoulder at Taelia, who had her back to the gang and was eating on her own. Jacob noticed how spaced out Einstein was, and cleared his throat, startling Jeremy and snapping him back into reality.

"Hey, Einstein!" Jacob said as he snapped his fingers in front of Jeremy's face. "This is your wake-up call; can you hear me?" he asked cynically as Jeremy growled in mock frustration.

"Yeah, you didn't have to go to that length, though," he replied, a little frustrated as Jacob turned and looked at Taelia.

"What is it about her that you're so intrigued by?" Jacob asked as Jeremy laughed sarcastically under his breath.

""Oh, it's not intrigue at all. It's concern," he admitted as Taelia turned and noticed Jacob's gaze on her. She got up and walked their way, and Jeremy was unable to finish his thought as she reached their table.

"Why, hello, Belpois…" she said softly, with a hard edge in her voice as Jeremy tried to keep his frustration in check.

"Hello, Taelia…" he replied coolly as she turned to Jacob.

"I see you've got a new friend, you brain-dead geek," she pointed out, still speaking to Jeremy. Her eyes lost some of the coldness in them as she began to speak to Jacob. "Hi, I don't think we've met. I'm Taelia Winthrop," she smiled as she shook Jacob's hand. Jeremy just sat back and tried to keep from leaping up and punching her, but Jacob coolly looked at her and replied:

"Hi. Jacob Matthews. And if you ever speak to _my_ friend that way again, you'll live to regret it!" he hissed as she snatched her hand back and let out a sarcastic snort.

"Well then," she scoffed as she turned her back. "_I warned my parents, but no…they wouldn't listen…_" she thought before speaking one more time. "This is turning out exactly like I thought it would…" she growled under her breath as she stormed out of the cafeteria, leaving the gang in stunned silence.

"Well…_that_ was interesting…" Ulrich muttered as the gang proceeded to make small-talk, trying to get away from the subject of Taelia…

Taelia rushed back to her dorm room, almost in tears as she slammed the door behind her. She crashed down on her bed and screeched into her pillow before a soft static hiss came from behind her. She gasped softly as she turned around and saw a black mist cloud hovering in the air in front of her. It winked softly in a menacing black glow before morphing into a humanoid shape. As it solidified, the first thing Taelia noticed were the luminous, almost kind red eyes that appeared and looked at her with…was it concern? She couldn't quite tell for sure. The cloud finally solidified and Taelia could clearly observe her visitor for the first time. She noticed his short-cut black hair, and the odd symbol on his chest, but she couldn't keep her gaze from his eyes. They were…transfixing, and she thought she saw genuine concern in them. He looked to be…maybe a year younger than she was, Taelia noticed, and after this long pause, he spoke for the first time.

"_Hello, Taelia…_" he said in an icy-cool voice that sent a chill up Taelia's spine.

"How…how do you know my name…?" she asked in a stutter as he smiled knowingly.

"_Let's just say I've been watching you…even before you came here, my dear…_" he said calmly as he gazed softly at her. She shivered at this comment, but settled slightly when he brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and whispered, "_Shh…I know the pain you've been suffering…the hurt…the insults…the heartache… You don't deserve it, my dear…_" He paused as a tear dripped down her cheek. "_I haven't said anything to upset you, have I?_" he asked, and she shook her head.

"No…not at all…" she replied through muffled sobs. "It's just…I was thinking about everything…"

"_I know…I know what you've endured. No one, especially a beautiful girl like yourself, deserves the torment that those heartless geeks have put you through…_" As he trailed off, Taelia slowly nodded.

"I hate them…" she whispered. "They treated me like trash when I was at Kadic before…especially Belpois. And that new kid they've become friends with seems to be just the same. I could see it in his eyes; he had no welcome for me, only disgust. I'm tired of being thrown aside and stepped on like I don't matter…"

"_Oh, but you do matter, my dear, and don't you forget that. I sympathize with you…I too have been fighting Jeremy and his little gang for a long time, and I've been treated in a similar way to how they are treating you now… Is it revenge you want?_" he asked, and after a long moment of consideration, Taelia nodded.

"Yes…" she whispered harshly, her voice becoming steely. "I want to make them pay for disrespecting me…" she hissed. The boy nodded and looked into her eyes one more time.

"_I can give you all the power to do what you want, and more…_" he whispered, and Taelia let a note of fear creep into her eyes before she replied.

"I…but I don't even know you...not really, anyways…" she stuttered as he chuckled, sending another chill up her spine before smiling, an entrancing gesture that made her freeze for a moment before blinking and looking at him, waiting for him to speak again.

"_Does that really matter…?_" he asked, and he could see the hesitation in her eyes as she looked away for a split second. The boy nodded, and spoke one last time as he turned to the wall. "_I see you are still fearful. Think on what I've said, my dear… If you still want your revenge, I will know, and I will return here…_" he murmured as Taelia's eyes began to burn in irritation. A smoky haze filled the room, and Taelia was finally forced to squeeze her eyes shut to stop the pain. When she opened them again…the boy was gone…

"_Hahahaha!_" XANA cackled as his eyes glowed from the center of a murky black fog. "_If my plan works…I will have more power than I ever did before…_" he hissed evilly as his eyes vanished in the darkness of the black cloud…

The next morning…

"Good morning, class…" Mrs. Hertz began as Jeremy allowed himself to zone out of the lecture. It wasn't anything he hadn't already heard, anyways… As he looked quietly around, his eyes landed on Taelia, sitting on the other side of Aelita, and at that moment, she looked up and met Jeremy's eyes with a gaze that burned with frustration and sadness. She glanced down before sliding a scrap of paper under Aelita's desk, which Jeremy grabbed silently with his foot and picked up a moment later to read. Amazingly, Aelita never once looked at him; too engrossed in the science lesson to care…

_I'm willing to try and fix this if you are._ Jeremy looked at it and scribbled a response, sliding the paper back to her in the same manner, and still, Aelita never noticed.

_We'll see._

In Gym…

"Okay, class, we're going to divide up and play a round of dodgeball," Jim said as the class quickly divided. Taelia was nearly left uncertain of where to go, but when she saw which side the gang was on, she joined them, albeit standing off a little ways in the group from them. "Okay, it looks like we're ready. GO!" Jim yelled as rubber balls began flying. After a couple of minutes it was down to a few, and Taelia, Jacob, Joey, Ulrich, and Aelita were still standing for their side. As she deftly dodged a shot from the opposing team, Taelia noticed Jacob's limp as he moved to grab a ball and throw, and she laughed quietly.

"Hey, gimpy, pick up the pace; we're going to lose if you're not careful!" Jacob heard this and froze, whirling around to face her, and Taelia froze as she saw the pain and fury in his eyes. She knew she had made a big mistake when Joey dropped his ball and sprinted over to her. His eyes glistened in anger as he shoved her to the ground and grabbed her collar, nearly choking her as he screamed, "Don't you ever talk to him that way again! You'll regret saying that!" Ulrich dived to the ground and yanked Joey off of Taelia just before he could throw a punch, and Joey was still screaming as Jim ran over to Taelia.

"Miss Winthrop, are you all right?" he asked as he helped her up. She nodded as she shakily held her own weight and glared menacingly at Joey, who breathed heavily out of anger as Jacob gave him a look that said, "_You didn't have to do that…_" Jim just stared at all four of them (Jacob, Joey, Ulrich, and Taelia) and grabbed Joey and Ulrich by the backs of their shirts as he herded them all towards the administration building. He yelled back, "Class dismissed!" before saying to the quartet, "Principal Delmas is going to hear about this. Now!"

In Delmas' office…

"Mr. Night, have you lost your mind? This is not the way we operate at Kadic Academy and I will not stand for it!" Delmas yelled as Joey looked down at his feet. "What do you have to say for yourself?" he asked in a severe tone as Joey looked up at him with a steely glint in his eyes.

"I was defending my friend…" he said simply as he looked at Jacob. "Taelia made a comment…"

"That's a lie!" Taelia shot back as Ulrich snapped around to look at her in frustration as he, too, lost his temper.

"No, it's not!" he retorted. "I heard you say it too!" Delmas just looked at Jacob, who shook uncomfortably as Ulrich said this. "Jacob…?" Delmas said slowly, "Is this true?" Jacob swallowed nervously, before finally nodding so quickly that everyone else almost didn't catch it. Delmas just stood there, his eyebrows raising as he took this in. "What exactly was said to you?" he asked in concern. Jacob shifted uneasily before replying.

"She said…'gimpy, pick up the pace before we lose' or words to that effect," he answered slowly. Delmas' eyes widened, and he turned to Taelia.

"Miss Winthrop, I am assuming you do not know this, so I will lay it out to you plainly, if it is all right with Mr. Matthews." When Jacob finally nodded, Delmas continued. "Jacob; Mr. Seelman, has a disability that makes it difficult for him to walk normally." Taelia gulped in shock as Jacob pulled up his pants leg to reveal the brace on his ankle. "This is not something that we normally disclose, but considering the circumstances, I feel you need to know why this was so upsetting." Taelia just looked lost in shock as she turned to Jacob.

"Jacob, I'm sorry; I didn't…" she trailed off when he turned his back and refused to speak again, causing Taelia to tear up. She hadn't meant to cause this trouble or hurt him like that… She turned back to Delmas, who had turned to Joey and Ulrich. "Mr. Stern, I understand you helped break up the scuffle outside on the courts. You will not be punished for this matter. You are free to go. As are you, Jacob. If you wish to speak to me later, you may," Delmas said as Ulrich laid a hand on Jacob's shoulder and led him out. "As for you two, four hours detention each. You'll serve it this afternoon. I don't disagree you were defending your friend, Mr. Night, but we hold a high standard at Kadic, and I will not have it be blemished. To the library, both of you. Four hours," he repeated as Joey and Taelia were led off by Jim.

In Jeremy's room, during free period…

"She said that to you?" Jeremy said incredulously as Jacob nodded.

"Yeah…you were right, Einstein. I don't like her," Jacob scoffed cynically.

"Well…the best we can do now is avoid her…" Marth said quietly as Aelita nodded in agreement.

"Yes, wherever she is around here, trouble seems to follow…" she said. Little did she know…

In the library…

"_Just great…_" Taelia thought as she scratched some answers down for her statistics homework. She was too frustrated to really focus very hard on it, to be honest. She tried to look over at Joey, but he just turned his back and refused to even look at her. "_Boy, he holds a grudge…_" she thought in a mocking tone. "_I didn't mean it…I thought it would be a joke…but no, I have to say it to the one person it really hurts the feelings of…unbelieveable…_" She scratched something on her paper, and then looked out the window as she saw the gang pass by. They looked in the window, and as she tried to catch the gaze of any one of them, they all turned their heads up and walked on, refusing to meet her gaze. She growled almost inaudibly as Jacob looked at her for a fraction of a second before continuing on, making sure she saw the pain and anger in his eyes as he walked by.

"_Serves her right…_" he thought as Taelia's eyes began to burn. She felt tears welling up at the resentment she was getting. It was an honest accident! "_That's just my style_," she thought to herself. "_Brash and 'tell it like it is'_". As she continued to work, she felt a chill come over her. The air wasn't blowing, but Taelia could feel the temperature drop as she continued to write…

XANA watched from a nearby electrical outlet as he felt the rage boiling inside of Taelia's heart. He knew it was nearly time to pounce…

As the minutes would on, Taelia found it harder and harder to concentrate. She looked around aimlessly, and all of a sudden, the wheels in her head began to turn… She began plotting revenge…she wanted it so badly now…and she was going to get it too… All of a sudden, Taelia saw, out of the corner of her eye, the same black fog as she had in her room wisping out of the outlet closest to her, and her eyes widened ever so slightly. As it enveloped her, she felt more alive than she had in a long time. The cold hardness was lifting from her heart; she felt at peace as her body began to fade…wait, fade? What was going on? But, Taelia never had time to scream, and Joey nor Jim ever noticed her departure, for by the time either one of them looked again, the four hours were up and Joey was gone as well…

Taelia cracked her eyes open a tiny sliver, and when she did they flew wide open in stunned shock. She looked around slowly and saw she was standing on a large platform with trees all around her, and a large white pillar of sorts in front of her. She looked up and saw a dim light filtering down, though she could not see the Sun. She looked down and saw an expanse of shimmering green water into which the roots of the trees protruded, disappearing in the mist that hung over the water's surface. As she took this strange landscape in, she looked down at herself and gasped. She was now wearing a dark green top with a pale skirt, and strapped to her side was a lethal-looking whip with sharp rose thorns on it. She brandished it and tried it out, marveling at the easy feel. When she looked up again, she saw red ripples appear on the front of the pillar as the boy she had spoken with earlier appeared to walk through the side of it and come towards her. He stopped when he got to her, smiling at her awed look and faint smile.

"_My dear, I apologize for startling you earlier…_" he said as she shook her head.

"It's okay; I've been through worse…" she replied, still breathless at everything that was happening. "Where…where are we…?" she asked.

"_This is Lyoko_," he told her, "_my home. I rule over this place, and it is here where I fight Jeremy and his little band of friends._"

"Jeremy…" Taelia hissed in fury as she clenched her fists and anger appeared in her gaze.

"_Have you thought about what I said…? Do you still want your revenge?_" He had barely finished the last word when Taelia looked up with a steely glint in her eyes and met his cold gaze easily.

"Yes," she said without hesitation. "I want the power you promised. I want to take Jeremy and his friends down. For good," she added in a hiss as the boy's grin widened. "But first, tell me your name. I never caught it before," she added as he nodded.

"_My name…is XANA. And you have made a wise choice, my dear…_" he said in an eerie whisper as the Tower behind him began to glow red. He siphoned energy from it and then allowed a red aura to envelop Taelia. She felt her body warm considerably as power surged through her, and the glow grew brighter until she had to squeeze her eyes shut for fear of going blind. When she opened them again, her attire had changed. She was now wearing a black top with spiked embellishments and a chain bracelet on her wrist, and a pink mini-skirt with red trim. On her chest, in pink and red, was the Eye of XANA. She took out her whip and saw that it had elongated slightly, and the thorns were now hooked, almost like claws, for massive damage. It was now jet-black and looked terrifying if you could see it in person. She felt a tingling on her back, and had she been able to see them, she would have noticed wings, made of scarlet rose petal feathers, on her back, and when she realized what they were, she hovered slightly off the ground in excitement as XANA came to her.

"_Is it everything you wanted?_" he asked her.

"And more…" she marveled as he looked into her eyes.

"_Then bow, my dear_," he said, and she did without hesitation, dropping to one knee and lowering her head as he placed a cold hand on her shoulder. She shivered at the touch, but stayed relaxed and still. "_Taelia, my servant, do you vow to serve me and fight alongside me to destroy Jeremy and his blasted friends once and for all?_" He paused, and she looked up as she responded.

"I do," she said coldly, without any emotion. XANA smiled snidely, and cackled menacingly.

"_Then let the games begin_," he said, and for the first time, Taelia heard the distorted overtone in his voice, but for some reason, it comforted her as she listened to XANA bellow a challenge to the sky above. "_Just try and stop me now, Belpois! Let the games begin…_"

TO BE CONTINUED…

LW94: Don't you hate it when I do that? Oh, well! READ AND REVIEW!


	24. Episode 119:  Taelia Returns, Part II

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**A/N: Didn't intend this to become a two-parter, but what the heck! It worked…so stay tuned…the epic season finale is next!**

**Episode 119: Taelia Returns, Part II**

Taelia watched as XANA straightened and turned to her. He smirked evilly before speaking, and his voice sent a chill up her spine though she was somehow used to it even by now.

"_I cannot maintain this form for much longer; I've expended a great deal of power already with this endeavor. My servant, it will be up to you to stop them when they arrive here…_"

"How can you be so sure they will come, Master?" she asked as he grinned. His plan was already set, and everything was working out perfectly…

"_Because of this…_" he growled as the Tower behind them began to glow scarlet…

Jacob was sitting on the bench in the courtyard mulling quietly over everything that had happened when he was distracted by a rapid beeping from his bag. He picked it up from the ground in front of him and opened it, taking out his laptop and opening it quickly. His face grew progressively longer as he scanned through the windows, and when he came to the SuperScan, he groaned in frustration as he got up and turned to run for the park, but was stopped as Joey came blazing up to him. He put on the brakes and stopped in front of Jake, panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath. Jacob just waited patiently as Joey gulped in huge breaths of air, and after a few moments, panted out a breathless question.

"Have you seen Taelia?" Jacob just tilted his head as he looked at Joey.

"No, I haven't," he replied in confusion. "I thought she was in detention with you?" he asked in a half-question, half-statement sentence.

"She was, but she just disappeared a little bit ago. Jim and Delmas are looking for her, but no one can find her. She's not on the grounds anywhere!" he finished as Jacob's eyes widened in shock. "I thought I saw smoke in the room during detention…but I didn't want to mention anything to Jim because he was so mad at us…" As he said that, a thought crossed Jacob's mind… "_Could she…?_" He put it out of his mind briefly as he put a hand on Joey's shoulder.

"Tell Jim and Delmas I'll take Jeremy and the gang and we'll search in town. You need some air and a break. Go rest for a while man, please…" Jacob pleaded as Joey started to give him a look like he was going to argue, but submitted and nodded.

"Okay. I still am furious for what she said to you…but that doesn't mean I want to see her hurt either…" he muttered as Jacob nodded and turned to head for the woods.

"_You have no idea…_" he thought as he picked up his cell phone and called Odd and Ulrich hastily. "Guys? Meet me in the park ASAP. We've got a problem…"

Meanwhile…

Jeremy, Yumi, William, and Marth were walking back from the electronics store in town, and they had reached the edge of the woods when Marth raised a hand and stopped everyone. His ear twitched as he listened around, and heard a rustling nearby.

"Listen? You guys hear that?" he asked.

"No…" Jeremy whispered as he felt a chill go up his spine. Something was coming…he wouldn't deny that…but what? All of a sudden…

"MMNPH!" he shrieked in a muffled scream as he felt something wrap around his throat, nearly choking him as he saw spots appear in his vision… He felt his head slam against the ground, and everything went black…

"Hm…no answer…" Jacob muttered as he tried Jeremy's phone again. "Where could they be…?"

"Unh…" Jeremy moaned as he struggled to open his eyes. Everything felt heavy, and when he tried to move, he found that he couldn't. His eyes flew open as he struggled, and he saw that his entire body was encased in a matrix of thick green tendrils, almost like a cocoon. He moaned as they tightened slightly around him, and he groaned as he heard his phone ring in his pocket, knowing he couldn't get to it. "Marth…you okay?" he whispered.

"Yeah…" Marth hissed back. "Yumi? William?"

"We're over here…" they spit out in simultaneous throaty whispers. "XANA's not holding back, huh?" Yumi asked as Jeremy just sighed and blinked, looking up at the sky as he did.

"_Come on, Jacob…you're our hope here now…_"

Odd and Ulrich sprinted through the trees and met Jacob at the park sewer entrance as they looked around and saw the writhing vines creeping ever closer to them.

"XANA?" Odd asked as Jacob nodded quickly.

"No time; let's go!" he said as he lifted the manhole cover. He and Odd managed to scoot down the tunnel, but as Jacob looked up, he saw the vines webbing over the sewer entrance, and he heard Ulrich groan and cry out in pain as he hit the ground. "Ulrich!" Jake screamed in concern.

"I'm fine, man; go! Deactivate this Tower!" he groaned as a vine wrapped itself around his head, silencing him instantly as Jacob groaned in frustration and scooted down the ladder in a hurry, catching up with Odd, who looked at him in concern. "He said go; I wasn't about to argue. Let's do this," Jacob said as the pair dashed for the end of the sewers and the Factory…

The pair climbed up to the Factory bridge and dashed through the entrance, swinging down the ropes to the Lift entrance. Jacob smashed the red button to summon the Lift, and the two dashed inside when the doors opened. They traveled down to the Computer Lab, and when the doors opened, Jacob gaped as he saw a flash of pink hair in the chair in front of them.

"Aelita?" he asked in confusion. "How'd you get away?"

"Long story; no time," she panted breathlessly as Jacob noticed her ruffled pink hair. "Head for the Scanners, you two. XANA's got an activated Tower waiting for you in the Forest Sector."

"On it!" they said as they jumped back onto the Lift and headed for the Scanners…

Transfer Odd, Transfer Jacob!

Scanner Odd, Scanner Jacob!

Virtualization!

A few moments later, the two appeared over the Forest Sector and dropped to the ground, landing nimbly as Jacob straightened up and looked around. Everything was eerily quiet as he scouted the area. Seeing nothing, his eyes furrowed and he turned to Odd.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked as Odd nodded.

"It's too quiet…" he agreed. "Something's not quite right," he muttered as Aelita interrupted their musings.

"Hey, while you two are muttering, there's a Tower that needs to be deactivated. Can we please get a move on?" she asked crossly, though hinting some humor in there as she punched a key and virtualized the Overboard and Overwheel in front of the pair, who jumped on their vehicles and took off for a ride…

Meanwhile…

"Unngh…" Ulrich groaned as the vines squeezed tighter around him, pressing tightly against his chest and neck and making it tougher for him to breathe. He felt the pressure grow a little tighter in his lungs as he struggled to take a deep breath. "Come on, guys…" he gasped as the vines writhed around his cocoon…

Back in the Forest, Odd and Jacob were screaming down a narrow pathway heading for the Tower when a swarm of the blue spiders scuttled down a side path towards the main path that the duo was following, and they put on the brakes immediately, stopping a few yards from the spiders, whose eyes whirled around and scanned a full 360 degrees to check their surroundings before settling on the boys. Odd watched this feat and laughed as the bugs watched him.

"Funny! Hey, they're _Spy_ders!" he laughed. "You know, cause they have, like, spy cameras for eyes and they look like spiders…"

"I got it, Odd…" Jacob groaned as he heard a buzzing sound behind him. He whirled around and saw a swarm of the ugly, elongated bugs that the gang had run into once before in the Forest. The things were orange and black, with claws on their long, thin legs and razor-thin, sharp wings. They had mouthfuls of tiny, sharp fangs and the Eye of XANA on their foreheads. One of them made an odd hissing noise as it looked at Jacob, and Odd turned for a split second to look at them.

"Huh…don't know what to make of them…" he said as he jumped when one of the Spyders shot a laser at his foot.

"They're Insekts, Odd…and that's with a k, by the way," Jacob laughed as Odd chuckled.

"Where'd you get that one?" he grinned.

"Cause they're ka-reepy!" Jacob laughed. "And that's with a k, too!" he replied as he jumped to avoid an exploding shot from one of the Insekts. "Whoo, they're nasty little buggers," he pointed out as he pressed his back against Odd's. "On three, buddy?" he asked, and Odd nodded after a moment. "Three!" Jacob grunted as he pushed off the ground and launched towards the Insekts, who scattered and hovered on either side of Jacob. While still suspended in the air, Jacob whirled to the side and faced three of the six bugs. Before they could react, he had blasted a bolt of lightning at the three bugs, frying them and cauing them to explode into green slime and bug bits as Jacob landed and laughed. "Bug juice," he giggled as he landed on the ground and whirled around to face the other trio of bug. He sighed at the simplicity of it all and summoned a fireball around his hand. He blinked as the bugs prepared to dive-bomb him, and blasted a fireball at them before they could even react, incinerating them on contact. Jacob just grinned and blew a stream of smoke from his fingers. "Fried bug juice," he grinned.

Meanwhile, Odd was having an interesting time with the Spyders, who were clicking their front legs together and making a piercing metal sound as they charged their lasers. Odd growled as he dodged the annoying beams and deftly flipped backwards onto one hand, balancing for a second before landing on his feet again. "Oh, so you want to play dirty, huh? Well, two can play this game," he spat as he took off and jumped over the swarm of arachnids to the lowest branch of a nearby tree. He sat and stuck his tongue out at the evil little bugs, who just retrained their lasers and began to fire again. Odd carefully dodged most of the shots, but one of them managed to hit his shoulder, and he let out an "Ah!" as he fell backwards and spun to the ground. He hit hard, and let out a gasp as Aelita came over the com-link.

"_Odd, you just lost fifty life points! Watch it!_"

"No kidding…" he spat as he got up slowly and shook as he faced the Spyders, who let out tiny metallic hisses as they stared him down. Odd just closed his eyes, willing his Overboard to come to him, and via his mental link with it or something, a moment later, it came flying over to him, and he hopped on as he took off. He circled around the bugs, sizing up his targets, and let a barrage of Laser Arrows rain down. The stupid bugs scattered and dodged the first rain, but Odd let loose a second round of shots, and this set hit their marks, smashing into the Spyders and causing them to screech as they exploded into pieces. Odd just nodded as he descended and met Jacob, who had remounted his Overwheel.

"Well, that was interesting," Odd panted as Jacob simply nodded, trying to catch his breath. "Hopefully the gang hasn't given up on us yet," he added.

"Well then, off to the Tower. Let's jet," Jake said as the two took off towards the Tower again…

As the Tower finally came into clearer view, Aelita looked at her screens and saw a strange dot in front of the Tower. It had all the readings of a life-form, but…

"_Uh, guys? My radar's picking up a life reading in front of the Tower. I don't get it though…it has all the readings of one of XANA's monsters…this doesn't make any sense! The last time we had a reading like this was—_"

"Oh…my…"

"Gosh…" Jacob finished for Odd as they saw a human silhouette become clearer. A dark smoky haze was surrounding the Tower, and Jacob could barely make out the red aura through the smoke. As the two boys approached, Jacob saw dark hair, and the pulsing glow of an Eye of XANA cut through the haze. But when he heard the voice, he stopped cold, knowing that this was a disastrous problem…

"_Well…look who finally decided to show up, you insensitive freaks…_" As Jacob heard the insult, he almost fell off the Overwheel as he shuddered to a stop; his eyes widening as he looked at the silhouetted form in front of him. "_Lift!_" the voice shrieked as the fog was dispelled, and as light slowly filtered through to the ground, Jacob gasped in shock at Taelia standing in front of him. She smirked as she opened her scarlet and black mottled wings, letting a few rose petals flutter around her as Odd came up behind Jacob and gaped. The Eye on her chest pulsed in a dull pink light and her skirt rippled as a slight wind ruffled it. Jacob just couldn't believe the transformation, or, for that matter, the anger and hatred he felt burning from Taelia's being. He couldn't believe that the person they had just left such a short time ago was now this…embodiment of evil…a pawn of their greatest enemy. "_If only I had taken a minute…to talk…to not be as evil as I sounded earlier…maybe I could have stopped her anger…maybe I could have stopped all of this…_" Jacob thought as Taelia looked at Jacob's troubled gaze and laughed, a piercing cackle that sent chills up the boys' spines.

"You actually think I'm going to believe that you care right now?" she sneered as Jacob's eyes flashed in pain. "After what all of you said? Really?" she hissed, almost screaming as Jacob stepped forward.

"Taelia…no," he finally said, shaking his head. "I don't expect you to believe it. All I'm asking is that you listen for a minute and take to heart what I've got to say…"

"One minute. And it had better be good," she growled.

"How can you trust him? Really?" Jacob asked in genuine confusion. "What did he possibly say that made you listen…?"

"He said I would have the chance to take you idiots down off your pedestal. And I want revenge. You lot treated me like dirt and Jeremy and the rest did when I was at Kadic before. I've never had a place where I felt wanted…where I felt I belonged…" she admitted after a moment.

"He fed off of your rage…" Jacob tried to explain. "I admit…I was wrong. But I'm not above making things right…" he whispered. "Taelia…you don't know him like we do. XANA's hurt so many people…and you'll be just like them. When he's done with you, he'll throw you aside like he does anyone else. He won't worry about giving you what you want. You're just a pawn in his ultimate endgame…he can't be trusted…"

"You say that. But how do I know you're not lying to me now…?" she asked, and Jacob was taken aback.

"I—" He was unsure of how to respond, and his moment of hesitation was all Taelia needed.

"Enough talk," she said shortly as she drew her whip. "It's time we settled this." Jacob whirled around, and saw Odd just standing there, dumbstruck, looking at Taelia. Jacob furrowed his brow for a moment looking at him, and then it all clicked as the light bulb came on in his head. "Odd!" he yelled as he snapped his fingers in front of Odd's face, and the blond blinked after a moment. "Get your head in the game!" he hissed as Taelia's whip landed an inch from his foot, and the two split as Jacob hissed a remark to Aelita. "_She's able to draw their attention with her charm. It's almost intoxicating. I had to fight it myself once_," he admitted, thinking back briefly to the conversation he had just had with her.

"_Just take her down!_" Aelita hissed back…

Meanwhile…

"Unnnnngh!" Jeremy groaned in a screech of pain as the vines constricted around him even tighter. He felt one of his ribs crack as he wheezed out a raspy breath. "They have to hurry…" he choked out, spluttering for air as the vines continued to choke him…

"Kiai!" Jacob yelled as he tensed and felt the adrenaline surge through him when he rushed at Taelia, lightning sparking at his fingertips as he thrust out his fingers and blasted a bolt of lightning at her. She just smirked evilly as she took off, her wings surging as she hovered out of reach. She lashed her whip back and threw it down, forcing Jacob to dive out of the way just before the whip smashed into the ground where he had been standing.

"Jacob!" Odd screeched as he rolled towards him and readied his glove. "Laser Arrow!" he screamed as he blasted a barrage of arrows at Taelia, who expertly maneuvered in the air to avoid all but one, which hit her wing and caused her to shriek in pain. She stayed aflight though, and hovered in the air before zooming away. Odd tried to track her, but couldn't keep up, and lost her for a split second. That was all that she needed, though…

"Boo…" she whispered as she slammed her whip through Odd's head, not even allowing him time to make a sound as he vanished in a flurry of white panels…

"Crap!" Odd screeched as he slammed his fist against the side wall of the Scanner…

That just left Jacob, and he panted as he faced Taelia, who landed gracefully in front of the Tower. He screamed something incomprehensible as he rushed her, and as he jumped, she tried to take off, but was unable to fully take flight as Jacob dragged her, flailing, down to the ground. He pinned her under his elbow, and let some sparks crackle at his fingertips as he placed them at her throat and his eyes began to flicker, but the duo froze as a set of red ripples appeared on the surface of the Tower. Jacob let a menacing growl escape his throat as XANA walked towards him, and stood in front of them, dragging him up and separating him from Taelia. Jacob panted as XANA smirked and began to slowly clap, almost sarcastically, at Jacob's feat of taking Taelia, for the most part, down.

"Well done, my friend…" he hissed cynically as Jacob scoffed at the statement. "I expected nothing less…" He turned to Taelia. "And as for you…my _dear_…" he hissed, spitting out the last word, "I expected more. You shouldn't have let him take you down so easily! But…" he added, "your time for vengeance will come. We'll talk later…" he growled as he blasted a bolt of smoke from his hand and sent Taelia away in a flash of black mist. "You've done well…and we will meet again…" XANA whispered softly as he wisped away in a thin tendril of smoke, leaving Jacob to rush into the Tower…

"Hurry…" Ulrich breathed as a drop of blood dripped from the side of his mouth and his cheeks began to shade blue…

"Jacob…" Jeremy spluttered as he closed his eyes and began to still…

JACOB

CODE:

LYOKO

"Tower deactivated…" Jacob said quietly as the vines slowly released his friends…

Aelita's fingers flew over the keys and she hit a button as she sighed in relief.

"Return to the Past, now!" she said loudly as the white bubble enveloped everything in sight…

"Ow…" Jeremy said as he winced in pain-response, remembering the tightness of the vines. "That was not at all fun…" he groaned.

"No, I agree…" Marth said as Jacob shook his head.

"Yeah…XANA's getting more ambitious…and Taelia's been taken now…" he whispered. "We'll have to be even more on our guard now…"

"Yes…" Aelita said softly as Jacob was distracted by a beeping from his laptop. He pulled it out of his bag and opened it, scanning the screens before gasping in surprise. "What is it?" Aelita asked as Jacob smiled.

"The coordinates are decoded," he grinned. "It's time to find out where they go…" he said enigmatically as Ulrich and Odd high-fived and Jeremy just sighed in exhausted relief…

LW94: And this is it…the season finale is next! READ AND REVIEW!

Next time…

**Episode 120: The Cabin (1)**

As part one of the season finale begins, the gang goes hunting for clues in the newest Replika they've found…and end up finding so much more than they ever expected…on Code Lyoko: Reloaded.


	25. Episode 120:  The Cabin

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**A/N: This was by far the longest and most taxing chapter that I have written thus far! A lot of plotline goes on, and it will get very interesting! But don't just take my word for it; read for yourself! Part one of the Season Finale begins…now!**

**Episode 120: The Cabin (1)**

The next morning…

"_Hello? Who is this?_"

"Yes, Principal Delmas?"

"_Yes, this is he._"

"Yes, my name is Rebecca Winthrop. I'm calling in regards to my daughter Taelia. She's fallen ill, and is now going to see a specialist, so she won't be attending classes at Kadic for the time being until the doctors are able to diagnose her illness."

"_Ah, I see…very well. Tell Taelia we hope for her speedy return._"

"Absolutely,sir. Good bye, now," Jeremy breathed as he hung up the phone and had to bite his lip to keep from chuckling. The voice synthesizer could come in _so_ handy sometimes… As Jeremy turned back to his laptop, he jumped when his cell phone buzzed, and he picked it up quickly when he saw Jacob's name on the caller ID. "Hey, what's up?"

"_You at the Factory?_" he asked breathlessly.

"No, I'm in my room. You can come down if you want…" Jeremy said, and just as he finished, he heard a knock on the door , and he barely had time to say, "Come in," before the door opened and Jacob was standing there, breathless, with laptop in hand. "Okay…is something wrong?" he asked as Jacob sat down and began typing furiously.

"No, not at all," Jacob said as his fingers continued to fly over the keys. "Come on…" he muttered as he furiously typed in a command code and waited expectantly. His laptop pinged a moment later and he grinned. "Yes!" he hissed triumphantly as he punched his fist in the air.

"I'm lost…" Jeremy said slowly as Jacob laughed.

"I finally got the SuperScan modified to accept one of the two sets of coordinates we found in the data cache. It took me a while to figure it out, but they correspond to a location in the Network…" he explained as he pulled the Holomap up and switched over to the Network view. "Let's see where you go…" he mumbled as he punched in the coordinates and hit the Enter key. A moment passed as the computer processed the location, and then the Holomap view began to move as the image zoomed in on the specific location. Jeremy and Jacob watched as a large gray sphere became visible, and Jacob nodded simply, as if it was what he had been expecting.

"Uh-huh…that's what I thought…" he whispered as he scrolled the map around to try and get a better view.

"Here, I got it…" Jeremy said as he took the laptop gently from Jacob and began to type, pulling up a scanning program and typing in the coordinates of the Replika. A moment later, the thing was scanned, and Jeremy nodded as the laptop pinged. "Now…let's see what we have here…" he muttered as he pulled up the results. "It's a Replika of the Mountain Sector…" he pointed out as Jacob furrowed his brow slightly.

"Why on earth would the coordinates of a Replika be in Antea's file?" Jacob thought aloud.

"I'm not sure…but this other set of coordinates is too long to be a set of coordinates for any virtual location… Maybe the Replika has something to do with them?"

"Maybe…" Jacob trailed off. "Have you tried searching a global map yet?"

"That was the first thing I tried," Jeremy replied with a slight trace of dejection in his voice. "No dice."

"Maybe not coordinates, then?" Jacob asked, and Jeremy bobbed his head ever so slightly up and down before he replied.

"Maybe…" he replied. "You know, that's not a bad thought, actually…" he muttered. "I'll get to looking into that," he added as Jacob smiled.

"Good. With both of us working on this it'll be a lot easier. How do you want to go about exploring this Replika?" he asked after a moment. Jeremy just sighed before he replied.

"Well…we've got finals tomorrow, so that won't do us a whole lot of good to do it tonight…how about tomorrow night?" he asked, and Jacob nodded.

"It's settled then. Tomorrow we go to find out what XANA's been keeping from us…" he said in a confident tone as he thought about what they could possibly find. "_She couldn't be alive, could she? Not after this long…_" Jacob thought to himself as he bid Jeremy good night and went off towards his own room. He still had some investigating to do…

Working late into the night, Jacob was sitting with his laptop going through every inch of Antea's file; hoping to find something; anything that might help him connect the dots. He searched _Franz and Antea Hopper_, and immediately got a bunch of hits. He scanned through the first few, furrowing his brow as he read.

"No…no…already know that…shoot, why is it that everything we know from the school's file on Franz is on the Internet but nothing else is…?" he growled, beginning to get frustrated as he blinked and all of a sudden saw a headline from an old newspaper article. He opened the page and looked at the publishing date, which immediately piqued his interest. "June 6th…why do I know that date…?" he asked himself as he stared at the screen…

—_Flashback—_

"_June 6__th__, 1994. Day 1. I've been discovered; my enemies are after me! They're hunting me down for the information I have on Project Carthage. I fear they want its secrets to turn it against humanity… they are coming for me. I do not know if there is any way to escape, nor do I know how much time I have…I have to hurry…"_

"_June 6__th__, 1994. Day 897. They're still after me. I feel like they're always watching me…I'm running out of time…I need more time…I have to save her…"_

"_June 6__th__, 1994. Day 1049. I've given up all hope of bringing Antea home at this time…my only choice is to escape. I hope that one day; if she manages to survive…I will be able to find her. For now, all I can do I focus on saving Aelita…"_

— _End Flashback—_

"Of course!" he exclaimed in realization as it hit him why he knew the date. "It's the day Hopper repeated over and over again! Just not in the same year…this was a decade before…" he observed as he continued reading…

Jacob had actually gone through the cache of Hopper's diary entries that Jeremy had saved on disc, and listened to many of the entries. He and Jeremy learned from listening to them a few times that the Time Reversion program was not perfect in the beginning by any means; in fact, most events were not undone when Hopper first used it. It was only once he found the program and perfected it that it became the effective tool the gang was used to in the present. This reasoning was why when Hopper used the Time Reversion over and over, it did not rectify Antea's kidnapping, because Antea's kidnapping had already long taken place and due to the first Time Reversions not fixing the problem, the subsequent ones would only undo what had happened after the previous Time Reversion. (Basically, the next Time Reversion only undoes the events following the previous one when they are used subsequently, if that makes a lot of sense to anyone. Because Antea's kidnapping happened long before the first Time Reversion, the next 2500 or so Reversions could do nothing to fix it.)

"Now…what do we have here…?" he said as he continued to read…

**Government Raid on Scientist's Cabin**

-Article written by Miles Ignatius Blackwell-

Earlier today, authorities report that a government task force raided the vacation home of esteemed scientist Waldo Schaeffer…. The cabin was heavily damaged in the raid, and it is not known if damages will be paid It is also not yet known what they were searching for, but witnesses report that Schaeffer's wife, Antea, was taken from the home forcibly. A full investigation is set to follow, and authorities are saying that evidence collected in the raid may lead to treason charges against Mr. Schaeffer…

"So they did take Antea…" he muttered as he took a closer look at the photo of the Hopper cabin that was below the article. He looked at the backdrop and furrowed his brow as the wheels turned quickly in his head. "Wait a minute…that's the French Alps…" he muttered as he pulled up a 3-D world map on his computer and zoomed in on France. He took the zoom further in until he arrived at the French Alps, and then did a coordinate check. Comparing them with his notes, he found… "Aha! At least part of this second coordinate set matches the mountains. But why would they be longer…?" he mused as he shut down his computer. "Oh, well…I'm not going to be of any use if I stay up much later…" he yawned as he curled up in his bed and fell asleep…

Meanwhile…

"Master, we've tried everything…" Taelia said miserably. "You won't get any more information from…"

"_Silence!_" XANA hissed as Taelia shrank back in fear. "_You will go back to the base and do whatever you have to in order to get the information we want! And you'll do it now!_" he growled as he shot a laser bolt at Taelia and she devirtualized from his sight. "_That information is imperative to my plans…_" he thought to himself as he plotted his next move…

The next day…

"Afternoon, man!" Joey grinned as he high-fived Jacob, who smiled, albeit a little distantly. Joey caught this and gave him a strange look. "You okay? You seem a bit out of sorts. Exams go okay?"

"Huh?" Jacob asked as he blinked and focused on Joey. "Oh, yeah…they went fine, man…just got a lot of stuff on my mind…" he muttered as Joey nodded knowingly.

"There's something you're not telling me, isn't there? Do you know something about Taelia? I heard Delmas say she's ill, but somehow I don't believe that…" Joey trailed off as he saw Jacob spacing out again. "Dude! What's…?" Joey never got a chance to finish his statement, because the next time he looked up, Jacob was gone. "_What is with him lately…?_" Joey wondered in frustration. His best friend was all spacey and now he was avoiding questions too. "_Something's not right…_"

"Unh!" Jacob grunted as he collided with something solid and fell backwards to the ground, his padded laptop bag flying off his shoulder. He heard a flurry of apologies as he blinked and looked up to see Ulrich holding out a hand to help him up. Jacob took the extended hand gratefully and smiled as Ulrich handed him his laptop bag. "I was just looking for you, Jake," he said quickly. "Jeremy says we're ready to go if you are."

"I'm ready," Jacob replied, his senses immediately snapping into overdrive. "Let's rock!" he said as he and Ulrich headed to meet the others at the park sewer entrance…

Once everyone had arrived in the Park, Jeremy nodded and began to speak, with Jacob standing to his left. "Okay. Today we're going on an exploratory mission to visit the Replika that lies at the coordinates we retrieved from XANA's data cache. Now, I know that we don't know what we're looking for, so anything you find is crucial. We don't know what secrets XANA has hidden here nor do we know what they will lead to, so we have to be on our guard at all times. You follow?" Six nods. "Good. Let's get this show on the road then…" he muttered as the eight Warriors headed for the Factory…

Once the gang arrived, Jeremy sent the rest of the gang down to the Scanners while he prepared the virtualization procedures from the Computer Lab. Before he began, he heard Jacob's voice come over his headset for just a moment.

"_Hey, Einstein, I was going to tell you…_"

"Not now, Jacob," Jeremy replied. "It's go time!" he grinned.

Transfer Odd, Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Yumi!

Scanner Odd, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Yumi!

Virtualization!

Transfer Aelita, Transfer William, Transfer Marth!

Scanner Aelita, Scanner William, Scanner Marth!

Virtualization!

Transfer Jacob!

Scanner Jacob!

Virtualization!

A minute or so later, the entire gang, save for Jeremy, of course, was virtualized in the Skid hangar, and rushed quickly onto their Teleport Spots.

"_Ready, guys? Energize!_" Jeremy said calmly as the gang vanished in the customary columns of light and appeared a moment later in their seats. Aelita took the controls and sighed deeply before flicking the switches.

"Here we go everybody! Vertical propulsion!" she said as she flicked the throttle. "Cast off! Full steam ahead!" she said as she piloted the Skid out of the North Pole and over the Digital Sea. She hit the throttle, and a moment later the Skid dived into the Digital Sea…

Once the Skid burst from the Access Gate, Aelita flicked the lights and sonar on and set the throttle to cruise control, and then sat back in her seat, allowing Jeremy to take the controls.

"_Okay, guys, I'm programming the coordinates of the Replika into the autopilot because we don't know the exact way there. This Replika seems to have some sort of cloaking field around it so you won't find it until you're almost on top of it. There's a Data Hub near you that you're going to take, got it?_"

"Yes, Jeremy; we see it now," Aelita affirmed as she rotated the Skid to vertical and prepared for descent. "Hyperfluid aspiration in three seconds…"

The Skid blasted out from the hub a moment later, and Aelita sighed as she looked at the GPS tracker. They were getting awfully close to the Replika, and there was… All of a sudden, the Digital Sea turned scarlet as Aelita looked around and saw a school of Eels approaching from the east. "Right on cue…" she laughed sarcastically as she flicked the release switch. "We've got company, children," she chirped with a chuckle. "NavSkids away!"

Marth and Odd chuckled in unison as they broke off and cornered the first two Eels. "Well, how you want to take them, buddy?" Odd asked with a grin.

"Like this!" Marth replied as he launched a torpedo barrage at the two monsters. They, however; were able to swim through the smoke cloud unscathed, and Marth growled in annoyance. "Or not…" he said lamely as Odd laughed.

"No, not like that at all," the blonde pointed out as he swerved to avoid a lightning bolt from one of the Eels. He just avoided the bolt and then did a complete three-sixty loop as his finger twitched on the button and he shot a torpedo at one of the Eels. It shrieked as it turned, but could not move out of the way in time and exploded in a shower of sparks. Odd grinned as Marth scowled. "And that's doing it with style!" he grinned as Marth growled.

"Oh, style doesn't mean anything, stupid!" Marth shot back as he faced the second Eel and just let the blasts fly, shooting torpedoes and lasers like nobody's business. Amazingly, one of the blasts managed to hit its mark, and Marth grinned as the Eel exploded. "Told you…" Marth said as Aelita heard this over the headset and laughed.

Meanwhile, Ulrich, Yumi and William had the other two Eels circled in a three-on-two slugfest, but the Eels were proving decent adversaries as Ulrich launched a shot that the Eel he was chasing dodged, and as it turned its head back to fire a lightning burst at him, you could almost see the laughing smile on its toothy face as Ulrich violently swerved to avoid the shock. He looked over at William, who was still chasing the second Eel, and then in the mirror at Yumi, who was right behind them, and all of a sudden he got an idea…

"Hey, William, drive your Eel left towards mine, and we'll try to box them in. Yumi—"

"I know what to do," she grinned knowingly as she swerved off from formation. Ulrich smiled as he turned right to force his Eel towards William, and the two brutes looked almost like they were on a collision course. Just before they would have collided, they both turned north and away from harm…or so they thought as Yumi popped up in front of them both and smirked as she popped off two quick blasts that vaporized the Eels in an instant.

"And that's how you execute a plan," Ulrich grinned as the trio resumed formation…

As the other five headed the long distance back to the Skid, Aelita drummed her fingers on the console as she waited for them to return. She was just about to radio in and wonder where they were when the Skid retched sideways and the lights flickered. She shrieked as she looked out the window and saw the menacing claws of a giant Kalamar stuck into the side of the Skid. She saw the drill in its beak begin to whir and head for the window of the pilot's compartment. Aelita closed her eyes and prepared for the worst when she saw a flash through her closed eyelids. When she opened them, she saw the Kalamar writhing as sparks surrounded its body, and as it burst into pieces she looked out and saw Jacob give her a thumbs-up from the NavSkid.

"_Couldn't leave you with that thing on your own, could I?_" he said with a smile as Aelita sighed and nodded when the other five NavSkids came into view. She waited as they positioned their braces, and when she felt them click into position she hit the controls and said, "Recovery…" as they reattached themselves. She sighed as the Sea returned to its regular sea-blue color, and she began to inch closer to the blinking dot that signified the Replika until she felt the nose of the Skid brush the Access Gate. Aelita smiled as she threw the brake and flicked on her com-link.

"Hey, Jeremy, time to do what you do best," she smiled as he flexed his fingers and went to work, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

"_Okay…do this…and then this…and maybe this here…and…got it!_" he said finally as the sphere shimmered before the Replika's cloaking field vanished and it came into full view. Jacob nodded and clicked his tongue as the gray shell appeared. Jeremy continued to type away as he worked with some lines of complex coding, and a moment later he muttered, "_Yes…_" as the digital lock flashed green. He sent the key to the Skid, and Aelita smiled as she received the data.

"Digital Key activated," she muttered as a beam of light shot from the Skid and impacted the Access Gate's lock. The lock blinked after a moment and the Access Gate began to slide open with a slow creak. After a few moments, the tunnel was open and Aelita drove the Skid inside the tunnel…

When the Skid blasted up from the Digital Sea, Jacob looked around and for a moment saw nothing. He furrowed his brow and then all of a sudden looked up. That's when he saw the flat undersides of the Sector floor, and when he squinted he could make out the purple coloration of the rock. "Mountains…" he mumbled as Odd pumped his fist and let out a cry of jubilation.

"Yes! Mountain Sector, here I come!" Odd laughed excitedly as Aelita finally maneuvered the Skid up and over the top of the Sector, and Ulrich looked down, scanning for a Tower.

"Aelita, to your right," he pointed out as Aelita nodded and changed course towards the Tower Ulrich had seen. She steered the Skid close to the Tower and pulled the brake as she typed a command into the keypad.

"Docking…" she said as the pink swirls pulsed out from the Skid and surrounded the Tower. A moment later, she added, "Skid secured," as the Tower's aura changed from white to green. Jeremy sighed as he ran a diagnostic check and nodded when everything came back normal.

"_Okay, who's ready for Translation?_" he asked as Jacob nodded calmly and raised his hand. "_Let's see…Jacob, Aelita, and…Ulrich_," he decided as Odd whined in disappointment.

"Aww! I wanted to go!" he complained.

"_Odd, remember! We don't even know where this Supercomputer is or what the story even is with this Replika! I'm sending those three because they can keep their cool best under pressure!_" Jeremy reminded him as Odd grumbled.

"Okay…" he growled a little dejectedly as Jacob sat back gently.

"We're ready when you are, Einstein," he said coolly as Jeremy nodded.

"_Okay, I'm running the Translation program…_" he said as he punched in the command. Aelita and Jacob heard him growl a moment later though, and none of the three disappeared from their seats.

"Jeremy, is something wrong?" Aelita asked as Jeremy hissed out a reply and…it sounded like hit the desk…before explaining.

"_I've got an Alert message!_" he replied with a growl. "_It's weird; I've never gotten one like this before…It's asking for some sort of character sequence…_" he muttered as Jacob sat in his seat counting numbers, letters, and symbols in his head for a moment. He finished, and looking up at his control screens for a second, asked: "Jeremy…how many characters is the sequence…?" Jeremy looked up in slight confusion from his keyboard, counted the blanks, and issued a short and confused reply.

"_Twelve characters…why?_" Jacob went over his calculations a second time before muttering to himself: "38 degrees north, 21 degrees west, and…54 degrees _up_…" Jeremy's eyes widened as he heard the last word, and Aelita added, "Of course! Length, width, and depth!" Jeremy's gaze suddenly glimmered as he understood, and he pulled up the data cache information, scrolling to the second set of coordinates and nodding when everything finally made sense.

"_That's it! They aren't just global coordinates! That's why the first two numbers matched up and yet the extra numbers were still there! They're __**SPACE**__coordinates!_" he exclaimed as Jacob nodded heavily.

"Exactly! That's where we're headed!" Jake grinned as Jeremy quickly plugged in the coordinates to the Translation program and watched as it blinked and the Alert bubble turned from red to green. Jeremy let out a gleeful cry of success, and added, "Here we go, guys!" as the program fired up…

Translate Jacob, Translate Aelita, Translate Ulrich!

Aelita and the boys vanished in a flash of sparks, and a few seconds later appeared about ten feet over the ground, just like Jacob had guessed they might. They appeared in a burst of light and fell to the ground, landing in a fluffy pile of snow. Jacob yelped at the sudden cold and jumped up, shaking the flakes off of him as Aelita smiled in jest and then looked around to see where they had landed…

As Aelita looked around, she saw a hilly landscape, dusted in soft snowflakes that continued to fall from the dark, ominous clouds. They were in a small valley between several looming, snow-capped mountain peaks, and the long grass, weeds, and wildflowers around them intermingled with the stoic pine trees gave a sense that no one had been here for a very long time. As Aelita continued to gaze around, her eyes finally came to rest on a small cabin, set against the peaks in a small…almost alcove of sorts. As she looked closer at it, she noticed that several boards were missing from the roof, and that the crumbling remains of the door and window trim were scattered around the perimeter of the house. The little shack truly looked a wreck, and it was clear that no one had inhabited or even come to this place in a long, long time…

"What is this place…?" she whispered in slight shock as Jacob cast his gaze onto the cabin…

"What the…?" he muttered as he looked around. What he saw was like looking at a photograph. He just couldn't quite place it… "That's it!" he muttered suddenly as realization hit him. "Aelita…" he said softly as she looked at him in confusion, "…this is your parents' cabin…" As he said this, she looked at him slowly before nodding her head and turning for the door. Jacob and Ulrich slowly followed ad when Aelita reached what was left of the door, she pushed the base aside and watched it fall to the ground. It caused a little pile of dust to fly up as it hit, but when the dust settled, Aelita coughed softly before walking through the front door…

The entrance hall was coated in dust, and the wallpaper had faded over time so that the pink was almost unrecognizable. Aelita looked around as they walked through, and when they turned left and entered the main room, she barely glanced around before a blinding pain hit her and she dropped to her knees…

—_Flashback—_

"_Mommy, there's little white dots falling from the sky!" a young Aelita giggled as she watched in amazement at the snowfall._

"_I know; isn't it pretty?" Antea asked as she smiled at her daughter._

"_Yes, Mommy! Can we go out and play in it?"_

"_Not yet, little one…" she smiled. "We'll wait until morning when it covers the ground…"_

"_Okay, Mommy!" she chirped as Franz stood back and smiled mysteriously…_

—_End Flashback—_

"Aelita…Aelita…" Jacob murmured as he shook her shoulder gently. "Come on; answer me…" he said quietly as Aelita blinked blearily and opened her eyes. She focused after a moment and stood up shakily. "You okay…?" he asked as she wearily nodded.

"Yes, I'm okay…" she said softly as she shook on her feet before steadying herself. "I've been here before…" she murmured as Jacob nodded.

"I thought so…" he replied as Ulrich stood and watched the exchange silently. "It's the cabin that your mother and father kept a long time ago…"

"Yes…before she disappeared…" Aelita said in a whisper as she looked around and saw a faint seam in the wall to their left… She walked over to it as Jacob watched in interest, and placed a hand on the wall as if she always knew what to do…and ran her finger along the seam until she found a small handhold, and pulled on it. Jacob watched in wonder as the wall creaked before the wall gave way and the seam widened. All of a sudden, the section of wall flew back and Aelita nearly fell backwards as a passage leading down…probably underground…was revealed. Ulrich's mouth opened into a small O and Jacob just walked over silently, looking down and seeing a ladder like the rungs leading to the sewers. He stared at it, and then Aelita, who just looked back at him simply. "Something in my head told me it was here…" she replied simply as Jacob began to climb down the ladder. She and Ulrich follwoed suit, and when they got to the bottom, Jacob looked around warily, seeing a sewer system that reminded him of home as he opened the com-link.

"Jeremy, do you have any maps on a sewer system under the mountain cabin?" he asked, and Jeremy's fingers ran over the keys briefly before he spoke.

"Um…yeah, here it is," he replied as he pulled the schematics up. "The bunker was added after Franz and Antea bought the cabin. You need to go…left," he told them as they followed the western tunnel. Before long, the tunnel began to lighten slowly, and as the trio exited the tunnel and came into the room it opened into, all three Warriors gaped in shock…

"Oh…" Ulrich started.

"My…" Aelita continued.

"Word…" Jacob finished as they looked at a massive array of computers and technology. The room had steel walls and cords and cables were strewn everywhere. In each corner on the floor was a metal disc, slightly wider than a human's shoulder width, and all four discs were blinking with colored lights that were almost hypnotic to look at. At the center of the room was a large holographic sphere, and when Jacob drew closer to it, he saw that it was a Holoweb machine. At the center of the room was a massive Supercomputer, easily the size of the Lyoko supercomputer and then some. As he looked around, his eyes rested on a computer chair and screen, which he went over to and sat down at. His fingers flew over the keys as he powered the Supercomputer up, and when it prompted him for a password, Jacob mused for about five seconds before typing in the code 'Scipio'. As the screen blinked in response, the standard windows popped up on the screen like Jacob was used to on Lyoko, and he hit the com-link as he flew over the screens. "Jeremy, I'm going to take the controls! I found the Replika's Supercomputer! It's amazing; Franz spared no expense! I'd be willing to bet he based Lyoko off of this version…"

"_I bet you're right. And if I'm right, you'll find something about Antea in that Supercomputer, especially if XANA's taken it over. Go to work; everything's calm here,_" Jeremy replied as Jacob took over and began funneling through files and folders rapidly, searching for any trace of evidence that could be useful to them…

About ten minutes later…

"Okay, this is getting boring…" Odd yawned as he, William, Yumi, and Marth sat on the ground in front of the Tower, keeping a close eye on the Skid. Then, a laser burst hit the ground at Odd's feet, and he jumped as a pair of Tarantulas appeared to 'ambush' them. Odd just smiled as he fired a Laser Arrow and blasted the first one without much of a fight. The second one, however; proved slightly tougher, and Odd dived forward, sliding between its legs as he shot up and fired an Arrow into the back of its head, causing it to shriek before exploding. Odd just grinned at his work. "I am so good," he laughed, as all of a sudden, the ground began to shake as massive tremors overtook the Sector. Marth's head violently snapped up as he leaped up and readied his ax. From the distance, a tall mass could be seen lumbering towards the Warriors, and as it approached, Yumi's mouth dropped open and Odd just said, "Oh, crap…"

"What in the name of Lyoko is that?" William asked in a small voice as the steam cloud and monster with it drew closer. Odd just gulped, and Yumi responded in a defeated tone:

"The Kolossus…"

"Found something!" Jacob grinned as he pulled up a map of Russia on the screen and hit a few more keys. The command caused it to zoom in over the Siberian wilderness, until it was close enough that you could see a small laboratory and bunker from overhead. "That, ladies and gentleman, is XANA's Siberian research lab… But…why…?" he muttered as he continued searching through files. "Why would XANA have files on the Siberia facility here…in Franz's Supercomputer…"

Meanwhile…

"Uh, Jeremy…?" Yumi gulped nervously as the Kolossus drew slowly closer…

"_Jacob! Big problem! The Kolossus; oh wait, you don't…_"

"I know what it is…" Jacob said through gritted teeth as he continued to sift through files.

"_Then you know we've got a problem! Get out of there now! Give me the controls!_" Jeremy hissed as Jacob continued to type.

"Hold on, Einstein…" he muttered as Jeremy's eyes grew wider. He continued to let his fingers glide over the keyboard at a breakneck pace, and all of a sudden, he opened a file and hissed, "Yes!" as Jeremy screamed, "_I need the controls now!_"

Odd and Yumi prepared their guard as the Kolossus bared down on them and the Skid… "_This is not happening again…_" Yumi thought as she prepared to throw her fans and engage the brute…

"Got what we were looking for, Einstein!" Jacob said quickly as he sent the file he had found to the Supercomputer (the Lyoko one, that is) and released the controls. As the trio was running out of the bunker, Jacob glanced at a file cabinet by the door and saw a blueprint for what looked to be the disc mechanisms that they had seen coming in. The schematics intrigued him, and he grabbed the sheet as he ran out, furling it up and tucking it inside his sleeve…

As the trio dashed out of the door to the cabin, Jacob charged an Energy Field and blasted Ulrich, sending him back in a flash of pixellated light. Aelita just whirled around and readied an orb, but waited for Jacob's signal. "_I hope this works…_" he thought as he and Aelita simultaneously blasted each other…

A moment later, Aelita, Ulrich, and Jacob were back in their seats, and Yumi and Willaim turned and saw this just before jumping out of the way of the Kolossus's foot, which barely kept from crushing them. All of a sudden, as the Kolossus prepared to swing at the Skid, Jeremy came over the com-link and said, "_It's time to get out of here, guys!_" The other four Warriors vanished in a flash of light and reappeared in the Skid. They watched in horror as the Kolossus readied to take out the Skid…but Jeremy was faster. With lightning speed, he took the controls remotely, disconnected the Skid from the Tower, and dove off towards the Digital Sea before the Kolossus knocked the Tower clean over and threw it into the Digital Sea…

The Skid screamed out of the Access Gate, and only once they were a safe distance away from the Replika did Jeremy finally muster the energy to sigh and say:

"We're going home, guys…"

Once the Skid was safely docked in the Hangar and the Warriors were safely home in the Factory, Jeremy called them all up to the Computer Lab to have a look at the data Jacob and Aelita had collected. As Jacob jumped off the Lift, he patted his left sleeve… Yep, the blueprints were still there. It worked!

"Hey, Jeremy…' he began as he took the rolled-up blueprints from his sleeve and handed them to Jeremy. "I saw some weird disc-looking things on the floor in the bunker and found these blueprints nearby. They looked interesting so I grabbed them to see what you could make of them," he explained as Jeremy tucked his glasses further up on his nose before unfurling the sheets and looking at the blueprints. "Any ideas?" he asked as Jeremy muttered to himself before looking up and replying.

"I'm not sure right off-hand," he replied, a little disappointed, "but you're right. These are worth taking a look at, especially if they were in Franz's bunker. It's not like any technology I've ever seen before…" he muttered, trailing off before delivering the best part. "But…I have some even better news!" he grinned as he pulled up the file that Jacob had found in his search of the cabin Supercomputer. "Watch this…" he said as he played the video file…

The screen went static for a moment before reverting to black, and then a fuzzy image gradually grew sharper as an overhead shot of the entrance to the Siberian lab came into view… Everything looked quiet, until some faint shouting could be heard, and the door burst open as a guard in a black suit exploded out of it into the snow, dragging a chained, blindfolded, and gagged figure along behind him. He shoved the figure down into the snow, and then proceeded to beat it, slamming punches and kicks into the trembling body. When he had finished attacking the figure, he finally pulled the sack covering its head off, and all that you could see for a moment was a flash of bright pink hair before the face turned to the camera…and a woman's face could be seen as Jeremy paused the video, zooming in on the face and enhancing the image as he did so… As the image sharpened, even though the face was older than he had seen it before, Jacob's mouth fell open, and Ulrich dropped to a knee in total shock. Aelita just shook as William and Marth laid a hand each on her shoulder to comfort her. She couldn't believe what she was seeing…it must be a mistake…

"That's not possible…" Aelita whispered as she looked at her mother's face on the screen. "No way…" she reaffirmed as Jeremy pointed to the bottom corner of the video.

"But look at the time stamp of this security footage," he said as Aelita's eyes gazed at the date and time, and she just broke down in tears when she saw it. Jacob just hugged her and told her to breathe, that it was all right as Jeremy continued. "That's no trick. This video was taken less than twenty-four hours ago. Aelita…your mom's still alive…" he finished in a quiet, choked whisper as she cried, maybe in joy, disbelief, or fear… Jacob just looked up with a steely glint in his eyes as Marth nodded and spoke.

"Then we have to bring her home. It's our mission now," he said simply as Jacob nodded.

"Yeah," he agreed. "And now we know where we're going to find her," he added as the gang, save for Aelita, who was still crying into Jeremy's shoulder, looked up expectantly at him. "We're going back to Siberia, gang…"

TO BE CONTINUED…on the season finale of Code Lyoko: Reloaded…

LW94: Well, this is it…and there's still SO many questions to be answered! Stay tuned, for the season finale!

Next time…

**Episode 121: Finding Antea (2)**

On the season finale of Code Lyoko: Reloaded, the gang returns to Siberia in hopes of rescuing Antea. But when they arrive, they find that pulling off the rescue operation is much easier said than done…


	26. Episode 121:  Finding Antea

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**A/N: Well, I didn't expect this to become an almost 10,000 word finale, so I ended up splitting it into two parts. Not my original plan, but hey, things happen. Backstory becomes the premium here, and stories will be explained as the gang sets off to rescue Antea. I won't say any more than that! Enjoy Part Two of the Season Finale!**

**Episode 122: Finding Antea (2)**

Late that night…

"Unh…" Aelita muttered as she tossed and turned in a fitful sleep. The nightmares were back again, and she whimpered in her sleep as tears streamed down her face…

"_Mom!" Aelita screeched as she turned when she heard her mother fall to the ground. Taelia just cackled evilly as she crouched over Antea and placed a hand at her throat to keep her subdued. Antea just relaxed and turned her head so that she could see her daughter one more time…_

"_Aelita, my princess…" she whispered. "I'm sorry…sorry that I couldn't do more…I love you…don't…don't forget that…" she whispered in a choked-off, yet still confident whisper as her eyes sparkled with emotion…_

"_Oh, how sweet…" Taelia laughed cynically as she raised the whip over her head. "And now, it's time for you to be silenced!" she screeched madly as she brought the whip down onto Antea's calm expression…_

"_MOM! NOOOO!" Aelita shrieked in absolute terror and misery as her mother's eyes dimmed, losing their fire for the last time…_

"Hurgh!" Aelita gasped as she wretched and shot up out of her fitful sleep. She gasped in huge gulps of air as she tried to catch her breath, and whimpered as tears streamed down her face. She cried as she felt the pain and agony pierce her heart, and she tried to breathe as she slowly convinced herself that it was all a nightmare. Once she had finally stopped shaking, she slowly got to her feet and steadied herself, walking with slow, deliberate steps to the window. She pulled the curtain back and let the cool moonlight wash over her, closing her eyes as she gazed sightlessly at the stars. She just pictured them as she stood there, and jumped when she heard the faint cry of an owl from beyond the window. As she shuddered again, she slowly walked away from the window and grabbed her coat from the closet…

Outside…

Aelita was walking along the stream that ran through the far side of the park when she heard a faint rustling from behind her. She tensed up, and whipped around when it got close, but she relaxed when she saw Jacob come warily out of the trees with his hands held in front of him…

"I thought I might find you here…" he whispered softly as she breathed slowly for a moment before breaking down into tears and rushing into his arms. He just stood there, caught off-guard for half a second before wrapping his arms around her and comforting her. "Shh…shh…it's okay, Princess…" he whispered as she shook and sobbed into his shoulder. "What's wrong…?" he asked gently, and almost a little hesitantly as she finally took a deep breath and looked up at him…

"The nightmares are back…" she whispered in a choked voice. "I saw…I saw Taelia kill my mother…" she sobbed as Jacob held her tightly.

"Shh…it was all a dream, Princess…I promise…I won't let anything happen to her…I will do everything in my power…"

The following morning…

"Ms. Weber, could you put some coffee on? I'll be in my office."

"Right away, Headmaster," the secretary replied as she scurried off towards the staff lounge. Delmas just sighed at the start of another day as he sat down at his desk. He prepared to grab a stack of papers when his eyes fell on a file folder at the edge of his desk. He let out a "hmm…" as he picked it up and looked at the cover. "Taelia Winthrop…" he murmured as he opened the folder. He gazed at the information, and then something he read made him stop cold…

—_Flashback—_

"_Yes, my name is Rebecca Winthrop. I'm calling in regards to my daughter Taelia. She's fallen ill, and is now going to see a specialist, so she won't be attending classes at Kadic for the time being until the doctors are able to diagnose her illness…"_

—_End Flashback—_

"Hunh!" Delmas grunted as he lurched forward in surprise. He jumped out of his chair and ran to his office door. "Ms. Weber!"

"Yes, Headmaster…?" she asked as she came running to the door, coffee in hand. "Oh my, sir…you look like you've seen a ghost…"

"Nicole…call the police, please…we have a serious problem…"

In the cafeteria…

"Jeremy, I'm worried…" Jacob whispered as Jeremy slowly chewed his bagel and nodded. "She hasn't been up all morning and…" he stopped when he saw Principal Delmas storm into the cafeteria with a evil-looking officer in dark shades. "Oh, this cannot be good…" he whispered as Delmas approached their table…

"Belpois, Matthews, can I have a word with the two of you? In my office…please?"

"Now, sit down, please. Both of you," Delmas directed as Jeremy and I sat in two of the chairs in front of his desk. He must have seen the freaked out looks on their faces, because he added, "Don't panic. You're not in trouble. We just need to as you a few questions; that's all this is. This is Officer Pike, from the downtown police station. He's here looking for information related to the disappearance of Taelia Winthrop. Officer?" he directed as Pike took a seat in front of the two boys.

"Hello, boys, I'm Officer Pike," he said warmly, extending a hand.

"Jeremy Belpois," Jeremy said as he shook Pike's hand.

"Jacob Matthews," Jacob added as he nodded and gave a slight smile.

"Now, I understand you two knew Taelia Winthrop?" he asked.

"Yes," Jeremy nodded. "We weren't friends, but we did know her. We had some classes together."

"Well, I'm sure, as you boys know, she has not been here the past two days, and we have reason to believe that foul play is involved." Jacob shot Jeremy a glance that was so discreet, neither adult noticed it. "Kadic received a phone call yesterday from someone claiming to be Taelia's mother, and who gave a reason for her absence and that she would not be back until further notice. _However_," he continued, "after some investigation, we know that Taelia Winthrop is an orphan, so her mother could not possibly have called this establishment! Principal Delmas has told me that in the past, you two have been involved in some shady business with technology at and around campus, so I want to ask you straight up. Did you boys make the phone call, and do you know what has happened to Taelia Winthrop?" Jacob froze up for half a second, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see how calm Jeremy was able to stay, and he relaxed. "No sir, we did not make the phone call, nor did we have anything to do with Taelia's disappearance or know where she currently is," he replied with a straight, unwavering tone. "_At least, we don't know anything we can tell you…_" he thought to himself as Pike continued.

"Then, let me see if I can get the story straight here. Do you know where she was two days ago in the afternoon?"

"Yes, she was in detention with my best friend, Joey Night," Jacob replied slowly as Delmas nodded and picked up his phone.

"Nicole, can you send for Joey Night, please? Thank you." A few minutes passed before a silent and clearly confused Joey came through the door. Delmas closed the door behind him and asked Joey to sit down, which he did next to Jacob.

"What's going on?" he whispered under his breath.

"Taelia…" he hissed back just as discreetly as Joey's eyes flickered in recognition.

"Joey, we'd just like to ask you a few questions; this is Officer Pike."

"Pleasure," Joey said as he nodded to Delmas and shook Pike's hand.

"Now, son, can you tell me what happened in detention two days ago? We're looking into the disappearance of Taelia Winthrop," Pike said as Joey's eyes flashed for a moment before he nodded slowly.

"Sure. I was in detention with Taelia, and about three that afternoon, I was studying, and I thought I saw smoke from somewhere, I didn't know where it could be coming from. The funny thing was, I didn't smell anything. I turned around to get Jim, but he ended up helping me with classwork, and by the time detention was over and I turned back around, Taelia was gone. None of us have seen her since."

"So, you're saying, she just vanished? And you don't know how she did so…?" Pike asked as Jacob bit his lip. Joey shot a discreet glance at him and saw the nervousness in his eyes

"No, we don't," Jacob answered, a bit too quickly as Pike's gaze landed on him.

"Son; is there something you're not telling us…?" he asked as Joey's eyes flickered for a moment…

—_Flashback—_

"_Afternoon, man!" Joey grinned as he high-fived Jacob, who smiled, albeit a little distantly. Joey caught this and gave him a strange look. "You okay? You seem a bit out of sorts. Exams go okay?"_

"_Huh?" Jacob asked as he blinked and focused on Joey. "Oh, yeah…they went fine, man…just got a lot of stuff on my mind…" he muttered as Joey nodded knowingly._

"_There's something you're not telling me, isn't there? Do you know something about Taelia? I heard Delmas say she's ill, but somehow I don't believe that…" Joey trailed off as he saw Jacob spacing out again. "Dude! What's…?" Joey never got a chance to finish his statement, because the next time he looked up, Jacob was gone. "__What is with him lately…?__" Joey wondered in frustration. His best friend was all spacey and now he was avoiding questions too. "__Something's not right…__"_

"_I'm sorry I have to lie to you, Joey; I just don't have a choice…"_

_Joey heard the words echo in his head as a sharp pain pierced his temple. He fought through it and tried to hear more, but none would come…_

—_End Flashback—_

"I…" Joey started as he hesitated for a second. Could he really do this to his friend? It wasn't right, was it? Keeping secrets like this? "All I remember was that after that, the next morning, Jacob was acting a little off…" Joey said in a pained voice as guilt tore through his heart for selling out his best friend. Jacob just gaped at him in disbelief that his best friend could be so heartless… Pike turned to Jacob and Jeremy, who now were both tensed up as they tried to fight the fact that they alone knew what had really happened…

"Thank you, Mr. Night, I think we know what's going on here. You're free to go…" he said as Joey got up and walked out, unable to meet Jacob's gaze. Jacob's furious eyes just burned a hole right through the back of Joey's head as he shut the door, and once he had, a concerned Delmas brought a hand down onto his desk, shocking Jacob and Jeremy to attention.

"Now! Both of you! I know you've both been involved in some strange occurrences here at Kadic before, and I want to know, now! What happened to Taelia Winthrop?" he screamed as Jacob shook in fear before breaking down in tears. All he could muster was a single, whispered, teary sentence. Five words, nothing more.

"You don't want to know…"

A moment passed, and all of a sudden, Pike looked at the pair, both in tears, and realized with a start that two people would not be crying over a crime they had committed…

"Headmaster, with this kind of emotional response, I don't think they're lying… Jacob, tell me…do you know if she was kidnapped? Did you try to stop it?" Jacob sobbed as he looked tearfully up, and after a moment, realized he could answer without lying again.

"Yes. She was kidnapped…" he choked. "And no, I couldn't stop it… We were walking by the library window when it happened…" he mumbled. "I didn't realize what was going on then, but…maybe if I had only been there a little sooner…"

"Son, even if you had been, you'd have only met the same fate. Principal Delmas, we'll put out a BOLO to the entire city. I think it's time we let these kids be on their way," he said softly as Delmas looked softly on Jacob and nodded.

"Okay. Matthews, Belpois, you're free to go. And Jacob?" Delmas added as Jacob slowly stood up. "If you need to talk…"

"…Thank you, sir…" Jacob said softly as he walked out, Jeremy behind him. The pair walked in silence until they had gone outside and reached the Dormitory entrance. Jeremy then laid a hand on Jacob's shoulder and said softly, "Did you mean any of it? What you said in there?"

"I…part of it," Jacob replied. "And I never lied to him. I did see the haze, but I admit I didn't realize it was XANA at the time; I just passed it off and moved on. The emotion was a little bit of acting on my part, but, we needed to get out of there."

"I agree," Jeremy said as he slowly nodded, his glasses glinting in the sunlight. "So…what do we do now?" he asked as the duo saw Joey standing in the shadows of the dorm building. He looked up pleadingly at Jacob, but Jacob sighed and turned away, making it a point not to speak until they were out of earshot.

"I…"

"You know he was only telling what he thought was important…he had no way of knowing they would accuse you…"

"Right now, I don't care…" Jacob responded coldly as he stared back at his friend, who had his head hung, and if you looked closely, you could see the tears dripping from his cheeks to the ground. Jeremy just looked at this for half a second before turning to Jacob.

"You need to talk to him...he didn't mean you harm by it..." Jeremy said softly as Jacob thought for a moment and then nodded slowly, realizing how stupid he was being.

"I—yeah, you're right..." he sighed. "I'm being an idiot..." he murmured as he walked out from behind the pillar he was standing at and over to Joey, who did not hear him coming. Jacob put a hand on Joey's shoulder, and the boy flinched before looking up slowly and realizing who it was.

"What do you want?" he asked in a choked growl as Jacob sighed and shuddered as tears formed in his eyes.

"Joey...I...I'm sorry, okay?" he suddenly burst out as he began to cry as well. "I overreacted! I know you didn't mean anything by what you said in there; I know you were just answering truthfully...you didn't know they would accuse me, and I was being an idiot for holding it against you! It's my fault, and I'm sorry...we've been friends for a long time..."

—_Flashback; four years ago—_

"_Ungh!" a young boy screamed as he fell to the ground in pain. A group of older kids laughed as they pointed at the brace on the boy's foot and kicked dirt and mud all over him. A young Jacob closed his eyes as he prepared for a beating, but instead, he heard...  
"Leave him alone!" as a figure flew at the lead thug and launched a kick right to his shin that left the thug gasping in pain as he sank to his knees. The others looked at each other nervously as their leader slowly staggered up and glared at the boy who had kicked him. "And there's more where that came from, so go on! Get out of here!" he added as the bullies ran off. He turned to help Jacob up and smiled as he helped brush the dirt off of him._

"_Thank—thank you for helping me..." Jacob said in a thankful stutter as the curly-haired boy smiled in embarrassment._

"_Oh, don't mention it..." he replied abashedly as he extended a hand for Jacob to shake. "I'm Joey. Joey Night."_

"_Jacob...Matthews..." Jacob replied as he looked into the other boy's eyes and saw concern and welcome in his gaze..._

—_Flashback; two years ago—_

"_Mom; Dad! NO!" Jacob screeched as they vanished into the darkness..._

"_Joey...they're dead...my mom and dad..." Jacob sobbed as Joey held him in his arms..._

"_What will you do now?" Joey asked as Jacob shook in his arms..._

"_I don't know..." he replied softly as he gulped at the thought of being taken by Child Services, never to see his best friend again..._

_Jacob shuddered as he left a letter on his desk, knowing Joey would find it when people began to look for him, and then made his way outside to the hatch in his yard that led underground..._

_He set up an automatic virtualization procedure, and then ran down to the scanner, letting himself find peace as he was whisked away into virtual reality and knowing that someday, he would come back..._

_Dear Joey,_

_ I wish I could tell you this under better circumstances, but it is not to be right now. I've had to go away; I can't handle thought of life on my own, away from here, you, and my friends. I need time to grieve; I need time to think, about what I want and what I need to do from here. Please don't try to come looking for me, as I do not want to be found. I promise you, when the time is right, I will come back. There's just something I have to do first. Take care. I will miss you, bro…please, don't forget about me._

_Your best friend,_

_Jacob_

"_No…no, no, no, no, no!" Joey mumbled incoherently as he read the letter. "Jacob…why? Why would you leave me like this?"_

"_I'm sorry, Joey..." he thought as he felt himself grow lighter. "I just can't face life on my own right now..."_

—_End Flashback—_

"I don't want this to come between us. Can you forgive me for being a moron?" he asked through a sob as Joey's eyes sparkled with tears before he nodded wordlessly and hugged Jacob. Jacob relaxed and sighed in relief as he put his arms around his best friend, and they stayed there for the briefest of moments before they straightened up and Jacob smiled. "Thanks, Joey..." he whispered as Joey nodded.

"You left me once before," he added suddenly, and Jacob was taken off-guard by the statement. "Why?" he asked pointedly as Jacob's eyes flickered and he shivered in nervousness. He took a moment to compose his thoughts before he replied.

"I—I was afraid," he finally gulped in response. "I was heartbroken. I didn't want to face the pain. I needed time to grieve…on my own, I guess…" he mumbled as Joey slowly nodded. "It's not that I didn't trust you to get me through it, it's just that I needed to handle things my own way. Surely you can respect that, can't you?" he asked slowly as Joey sighed and then nodded, a light smile appearing on his face as he reached over and gave Jacob a light punch in the arm. Jacob laughed as he feigned extreme pain, and Joey grinned.

"Just don't be stupid again," he added in jesting fashion, knowing that Jacob would catch the double meaning in his words. Jacob laughed again before he, Joey, and Jeremy walked up to the dorms. Jacob and Jeremy stopped at Jacob's door, and Joey kept walking to his room, adding that he would see them later as Jacob opened the door and walked over to his laptop. Jeremy shut the door behind himself as Jacob scanned the diagnostics on his computer screen to make sure everything was in order. Once he had, he nodded and let out a small grunt of success as he straightened up, grabbed his computer bag, and turned to Jeremy.

"Well?" he asked as Jeremy looked at him blankly. "Grab your stuff! We've got someone to save, don't we?" he asked as Jeremy's face lit up and he dialed Aelita's phone.

"_Hey, Aelita? It's Jeremy. Grab the others and meet me and Jacob at the Factory. It's time to rescue your mom!_"

A few minutes passed, and Jacob and Jeremy arrived at the Factory, swinging down to the Lift and pushing the button as they walked inside. The elevator carried them swiftly down to the Computer Lab, and when the pair got off, Jacob hastily set down his things and slipped his headset on, opening his laptop and accessing the Supercomputer programs as Jeremy did the same on the Supercomputer itself. Jeremy powered up the Holomap and prepped everything, so that when the rest of the gang got off the Lift five minutes later, everything was set and ready to go.

"Hey, guys," Jacob said as he got up and hugged Aelita. The others nodded as they said their hellos and waited expectantly and intently for the instructions they knew they were about to get. "Princess, are you ready to do this?" he asked as she looked at him with tears in her eyes and nodded.

"Let's bring her home," she whispered as Jeremy came over to join the gang.

"Here's the plan. All of you, all seven of you, are going to the Ice Replika to participate in this rescue mission. The whole idea here is stealth, so I've planned a route that will take you to Antea's holding cell without you having to cross any major areas where a guard might discover you. If you are discovered, maintain the plan, but make sure you are careful. If you have to devirtualize, do it. We don't want any casualties. We have two goals: saving Antea, and getting out alive."

"Then let's do it," Ulrich said as the rest of the gang nodded in agreement.

"All right, you know the plan. Are you with me?" Jacob asked, knowing the answer already.

"Yeah," the rest of the gang replied in unison determination and excitement.

"Then let's bring her home!" he finished as the seven Warriors headed for the Scanner Room. As they got off the Lift Aelita shivered slightly, knowing the danger that awaited them, but she calmed when Jacob put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Princess," he whispered. "We are going to do this," he affirmed as she looked at him and saw the steely determination in his eyes.

"Then let's," she agreed…

Transfer Odd, Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Yumi!

Scanner Odd, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Yumi!

Virtualization!

Transfer William, Transfer Marth!

Scanner William, Scanner Marth!

Virtualization!

As Jacob and Aelita got into their Scanners, he looked at her once more before the doors shut, and mouthed a single word to her just before they closed completely.

"_Believe_…"

Transfer Jacob, Transfer Aelita!

Scanner Jacob, Scanner Aelita!

Virtualization!

Moments later, Jacob and Aelita's virtual matrixes appeared over the Arena floor, and they dropped to the ground, standing up and bolting through the tunnel towards the elevator. Once they arrived, the elevator came up from below them, and they jumped on, blasting up towards the Skid hangar. A few moments passed, and then the elevator slowed to a stop, and the pair jumped off to see the others waiting for them.

"We're here," Jacob smiled. "Let's go!"

The seven Warriors ran down the pathway to their teleport spots and stood on them, waiting intently for Jeremy's go.

"_Here we go guys!_" he said excitedly. "_Energize!_" he finished as the seven of them vanished into their columns of light and appeared moments later in their NavSkids in a flash of sparks. Jacob gripped his NavSkid controls in anticipation as Aelita readied the consoles in the cockpit.

"We're ready if you are, Princess," Odd said over the com-link as Aelita nodded in response.

"Then we're off! Vertical propulsion!" she said as she activated the thrusters. "Cast off! Full steam ahead!" she said as she released the docking mechanisms and drove the Skid up out of the Hangar and subsequently the North Pole of Sector Five. She readied the Skid over the Digital Sea, and then initiated a high speed dive straight down until the ship was completely submerged…

The Access Gate opened a moment later, and the Skid emerged as Aelita cried "Retro Brake!" and threw the lever, slowing the Skid to a safe speed. She enabled the lights and sonar, and then sighed as everything came on in full working order. "Let's go…" she said as she began to steer the ship through the dimly-lit water. The journey was underway at last…

A few minutes passed with nothing much happening, and then Jacob tapped a few keys on the console in his NavSkid. He had been working on this feature for a few weeks and was ready to test it out. He sat back in his seat as he said softly, "Teleport," and vanished in a crackle of sparks. A moment passed, and he reappeared in the passenger seat of the cockpit next to Aelita, and she jumped for half a second as she noticed him next to her.

"Wow, you startled me!" she said through a chuckle as Jacob grinned. "Didn't expect that."

"Yeah, it's a new feature I've been working on in case of an emergency. That way if the pilot gets devirtualized, someone else can get to the cockpit and pilot the Skid."

"That's genius," Aelita said in reply as she looked out to make sure nothing was in the water. She plotted the coordinates of the Ice Replika into the tracking system and set the Skid to autopilot, and then turned so she could talk to Jacob. "Do you really think we'll bring her home?" she asked as Jacob took a deep breath and nodded.

"I wouldn't have sent us on this mission if I didn't believe it," he replied.

"Gosh, had someone asked me if I thought we would be in this situation a year ago, I would have said I never would have believed it."

"I wouldn't have either. Not just this, either," he added. "I never dreamed I would actually have a real life again…" he murmured, trailing off…

—_Flashback—_

"_Mom, Dad, NOOOO!" Jacob screeched as XANA cackled evilly. A beam of red light blasted from his outstretched hands and Jake could do nothing but watch helplessly from his smoky prison as his parents were obliterated in a flash of light…_

"_I'm sorry, Joey…" he murmured as he felt his body lighten…he knew he would return someday…_

"_No!" he screeched as he dived behind a murky brown pillar of rock to avoid a blast from a pair of Krabes. The beasts screeched as they stomped the ground in frustration, and Jacob turned around, his back pressed to the pillar, and sighed in relief._

"_You think you can hide from me?" he heard hissed into his left ear as he whirled around in shock and dived backwards when he saw XANA standing next to him, sword drawn. "No one gets away from me!" he hissed in that distorted growl as he swung his sword down, and Jacob had to leap out of the way to avoid being sliced in two._

"_If I'm hit…" he thought, "I won't come back…that thing is lethal…" XANA could sense his fear, and laughed maniacally._

"_That's right! Fear me!" he screamed as he sliced at Jacob again. Jacob cried out in pain as his loose purple suit was torn, and he saw sparks where he knew a cut had been opened on his chest. "They're dead; I killed them! And now…you are mine…" XANA hissed as he lunged at Jacob, pinning him to the ground. Jacob closed his eyes as he prepared to face death, but instead, he saw a brilliant white light that pierced even through his closed eyelids. It was too much for him, and he felt a blinding pain in his head as he felt his consciousness slipping. The last thing he remembered was that the weight of XANA on his chest had left him, and he breathed slowly as he passed out…_

"_Jacob…" he heard echoing all around him as he struggled slowly to regain consciousness. His eyes flew open like shutters, and he blinked as he snapped up into a sitting position, trying to take in what was around him. He had been lying on a cot, and he saw a porthole next to him and a windshield in front of him, where the driver of the vehicle was sitting. He saw the driver flip a switch, and he watched as the light next to the word 'Autopilot' on the console flickered on. Once it had, the driver turned to him, and Jacob studied him carefully for a moment. He had silver-gray hair that was messy and disheveled, but had kind eyes that seemed as though they could look right into your heart and see the good in you no matter what. He was wearing a cracked pair of glasses and a white outfit that reminded Jacob of a lab outfit. He seemed oddly familiar, but Jacob couldn't quite place him…_

"_Where…where am I?" Jake asked as the old man smiled._

"_You're on the Nautilus. It's my ship, and I rescued you from your world before XANA could have his way with you…"_

"_I…" Jacob stopped, suddenly remembering what had happened. "That was you? Thank…thank you…" he murmured as the old man smiled._

"_You are welcome, my friend."_

"_I…who are you?" he asked as the old man smiled._

"_I'm Franz Hopper…" he said simply…_

"_Welcome to Lyoko…" Franz said as he pulled the Nautilus through the Access Gate and up from the Digital Sea. Jacob watched as Franz steered the ship through a hole in the top of a craggy gray sphere. As they came inside, Jacob saw the inside of the sphere was made of blue blocks lining the walls, and he looked around in awe as the ship came to hover over the surface of Sector Five. "This is Sector Five, the central area of this world. It's designed similarly to your own world, as your parents and I worked on our projects together. I would send you to another Sector, but I feel you'll be safest here…" he said as Jacob nodded and disembarked from the Nautilus. He looked up warmly at Franz and mumbled "Thank you" as Franz shook his head._

"_It's only what anyone would do for someone in need…" he said simply as he was suddenly struck from behind by a smoke blast. Jacob's eyes widened in horror as XANA appeared floating behind Franz, and the old man turned and stared at XANA before giving Jacob his final command._

"_Save yourself! Run to the Tower!" he screamed as Jacob turned before a bright red flash erupted behind him, and he did not see any more after that…_

—_End Flashback—_

"And after that is when we met…" Aelita murmured.

"Yes, but it was a while afterwards…" Jacob reminded her…

—_Flashback, during Echoes—_

"_It's hard to believe I'll be seeing this for the last time…" Aelita murmured as she gazed around the Core Room and Sector Five once more. She turned with a start when she thought she heard footsteps behind her, and turned just fast enough to see a shadow vanish behind a pillar. She nodded and said loudly, "I know you're there! Come out!" Suddenly, she saw a pair of eyes peer around the pillar, and she watched as a boy about her age walked out wearing a purple jumpsuit. He had deep blue eyes, and was wearing glasses, and Aelita knew she had never seen him before. Yet, he looked vaguely familiar for some reason…_

"_I thought you might be XANA…" the boy said softly. "That's why I hid…"_

"_No, XANA's finally been destroyed," Aelita replied as she extended a hand to the boy, who hesitated a moment before shaking it. "I'm Aelita Stones. I've never seen you before; who are you?" she asked warily. "And how do you know about XANA?"_

"_My name is Jacob," the boy replied. "I came here from another virtual world. My parents were taken by XANA…it seems like forever ago…" he said as Aelita felt a pang of sorrow go out to the boy. "I was brought here by someone who saved my life, and I've been here ever since. Watching…waiting…"_

"_I know," Aelita replied. "Not about you, I mean…but about the waiting part. We have too; my friends and I. Waiting for XANA to finally be destroyed. And now he is and we can shut off this infernal computer for good…"_

"_Good…" the boy replied. "Then everyone on Earth will finally be safe…"_

"_You came from Earth?" she asked in surprise._

"_Yes…but now I've made it my duty to protect this place, as I'm sure you and your friends had done as well. I'm glad XANA has finally been beaten. Now I can come out of hiding…"_

"_But…we're going to shut the Supercomputer down…" she pointed out. "What will become of you?" she asked as the boy thought for a moment._

"_I'll leave the way I came," he said, without thinking of how he would find the ship again. "Don't worry about me; I'll be gone when you shut the Supercomputer down."_

"_Can't you come with me?" she asked as the boy shook his head._

"_No," he replied solemnly. "My life is not on Earth any longer…" he said mysteriously as Aelita's heart went out to the boy. "He sounds like he's been through a lot…" she thought as he spoke again. "But yours is. Go, and I feel that someday, we will meet again," he said, with a piercing gaze that made you believe it. Aelita turned, and then turned back around to see the boy heading for the Tower._

"_Wait!" she called after him. "I never even got your name!" she yelled as he stopped and answered her without turning around._

"_Jacob. I don't even remember my last name…" he said sadly as he disappeared into the mist surrounding the Tower, leaving Aelita with more questions than answers…_

"_I will always stay to protect this place…" Jacob thought softly as he felt the energy leave Lyoko and the darkness close around the Tower he was in, meaning the Supercomputer was, in fact, shutting down. His last thought as he fell into sleep was: "It is my home…and it will be forevermore…"_

—_End Flashback—_

"And then we restarted…_I_ restarted the Supercomputer," Aelita corrected, "and then you saved my life," she finished. "And now we're all the way here, rescuing my mom…" she added as Jacob nodded.

"And I have a life on Earth again…" he added as the two of them noticed the Ice Replika growing ever larger in the windshield. "I'd better get back in my NavSkid…" he added as he sat in the seat, pressed a few keys, and said "Teleport". A moment later, he appeared back in the seat of his NavSkid, and Aelita went to work opening the Access Gate.

"Digital Key engaged…" she murmured as the beam of light activated and opened the lock on the Access Gate. She steered the Skid through the gate, and a moment later the Skid shot up from the calm Digital Sea and up towards the surface of the Ice Replika. She carefully maneuvered it to the nearest Tower and docked it with skill and ease. Once she had, she pressed a button to stabilize the Skid, and said, "Who wants to stay and defend the Skid?"

"We'll do it," Yumi and Ulrich said simultaneously as Jeremy nodded from the Computer Lab.

"_Good call_," he said as he prepped the Translation program. It was time… "_Is everyone else ready?_"

"Roger," the five Warriors said as Jeremy prepped the Translation.

"_Then let's do this…_" he finished as he hit the button…

Translation Odd, Translation William, Translation Marth, Translation Aelita, Translation Jacob!

After a few moments, the five Warriors appeared over the snow-covered Siberian ground, and landed softly in a snowdrift. They got up and brushed themselves off, and Jacob pointed out crossly, "You couldn't have gotten us _inside_ the base, Einstein?"

"_Sorry, my coordinates were a hare off,_" he admitted. "_But the door closest to you doesn't have any alarms according to my schematics, so head inside._" The five Warriros headed cautiously towards the door, and Marth put his hand warily on the handle.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered as he pushed down on the rusted handle and was surprised when the door opened smoothly, without so much as a squeak. "And no alarm," he added in surprise. "Way to go, Einstein."

"_Oh, stop with the flattery; just get going!_" Jeremy reminded them as they headed quietly inside. The door shut silently behind them, and they followed this entrance corridor until they came to a four-way corridor.

"Now which way, genius?" Odd whispered as they heard the footsteps of a guard coming their way.

"Hide!" Jacob hissed as they ducked into a side closet just before the guard came around the corner. Once he had passed and was around the next corner, Jacob gave the all-clear. "Go!" he hissed as he heard Jeremy say, "_Go out and turn left!_" The quintet did so, and followed the corridor until Jeremy told them to turn right, and this corridor led them into a large, open room with what appeared to be an old assembly line in it. There was a large server with a ton of glowing buttons on it that attracted Odd and Marth's attention, but Jacob hissed, "Don't touch!" and the boys came back over quickly muttering hurried apologies. All of a sudden, they heard Jeremy's voice as they approached a large pair of metal doors at the far end of the room.

"_Go through the doors in front of you and follow the corridor to the very end! The room there is where the holding cell is! Go bring her home!_"

"Got it, Einstein!" they all said. Jacob walked up to the double doors, and laid a hand on the large handle, but as soon as he pressed down, an electronic circuit was broken and red lights began to light up all over the place as Jacob screamed, "Split! NOW!" Guards from all corners began to flood the room as Odd looked quickly at Jacob and Aelita.

"Go get her!" he screamed as William and Marth ran out to engage the guards. "We'll hold them off!"

"Got it!" Aelita screeched as she and Jacob pushed their way through the large double doors and began to sprint down the long, winding corridor. As the doors seemed to pass endlessly, Aelita began to pant, and even Jacob was feeling the pain in his right foot as they suddenly saw the end of the corridor, and a door marked 'DO NOT ENTER'. Jacob nodded grimly as he looked at the padlock on the door, and Aelita suddenly said, "Stand back." Jacob did so as Aelita charged a massive Energy Field and blasted it at the padlock, shattering it in one blow. She panted as she ran for the door handle and opened the door with a clatter, racing in and looking furiously around until her eyes came to rest on a disheveled, grimy, pink-haired figure on the ground in front of her, chained to the wall. She looked up with gaunt eyes at the two seemingly spectral figures in front of her, and her jaw fell open when she laid eyes on Aelita, unable to believe that this was actually happening…

"Aelita…?" she choked out in a raspy voice.

"Mom…" Aelita said with a tear in her eye as she rushed forward and hugged her mother for the first time in years, and cried tears of joy, knowing she had family once again…

TO BE CONTINUED…

LW94: Now, this is REALLY it! The third and final part of the finale is next!

Next time…

**Episode 122: Homecoming (3)**

As the finale concludes, the gang is at a loss at how to bring Antea home! Will they do it, or come home themselves empty-handed?


	27. Episode 122:  Homecoming

**DISCLAIMER: For the final time this season, I do not own Code Lyoko!**

**A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you readers who have stuck with me this far! This is the culmination of my first real fanfiction story! School is out, so I will have a LOT more time to write now! Again, thank you for bearing with me! The finale concludes…now!**

**Episode 122: Homecoming (3)**

Meanwhile…

"I wonder how they're doing…" Ulrich said quietly as he and Yumi sat on the cold ground in fornt of the Skid. They looked up when a pulse of heat hit them, and they saw a steam cloud coming from a long ways off. The ground shook as it got closer, and Ulrich shot up and grabbed his sabres as he spotted their worst nightmare coming in the distance…again…

"The Kolossus…"

Back in the main room…

"Ungh!" William hissed as a roundhouse kick from one of the guards floored him and left him gasping for air. As he struggled to get up, Odd and Marth were also struggling to fend off the guards when all of a sudden, as if on command, they all stopped attacking and parted like the Red Sea… Odd and Marth helped William to his feet as they watched a brilliant flash of light appear at the far side of the room, and they gasped as Taelia and the mercenary, who they had also fought previously, appeared to challenge them. Both were in their virtual attire, and both sneered at the trio of Warriors as Taelia laughed devilishly.

"You really thought you all could just waltz right in here and take her back from us?" she scoffed. "Really? You have to think harder than that!" she growled as she took off and landed a foot from Odd's nose. "It's time I settled this score with _all_ of you!" she growled as she brought her whip down an inch from Odd's foot. He jumped back out of the way, and William drew his Zweihander as the mercenary drew his lightning sword. Marth readied his ax as well, and the three Warriors stared the two pawns of XANA down as Taelia dragged her whip along the concrete, letting loose a terrifying stream of pink sparks.

"Well then, I guess we're doing this the hard way!" she screeched as the two sides ran forward to clash…

In Antea's holding cell…

"Mom, I thought we'd never find you!" Aelita sobbed as Antea mustered enough strength to stroke her hair softly.

"I always believed you would…" she whispered weakly as Aelita smiled and Jacob reactivated the com-link.

"Jeremy, we've found her! Now, I've got a question. How in the name of Lyoko are we supposed to get her home?" The pin dropped. Oh, crap…

"_Uh…_" Jeremy murmured nervously as his brain searched quickly for a solution. This thought hadn't crossed his mind, and he cursed himself for not realizing it before the gang ever left on the mission. "_Give me a sec…there has to be a way…_"

"Hungh!" William grunted as he swung his Zweihander into the boy's blade. "_The kid can fight…_" he thought to himself as he said, "Super Smoke!" He vanished and circled around the boy, trying to scan for any possible outlet of attack. He finally settled on a blitz from behind and he zoomed up and reformed to deliver the finishing blow, but before he could strike, the boy whirled around faster than William could react and plunged his sword into William's stomach.

"Unh…" William said as he stumbled and crashed to the ground, vanishing in a flash of pixellated light as he returned to the Skid… Marth saw this, and ran over from fighting the guards to try and avenge his fallen friend…

"Hah!" Odd breathed as he dodged a whiplash from Taelia. She took off and tried to get around behind him to strike, but Odd nimbly stayed on his feet and kept her in sight. Taelia growled as she began to get frustrated and shrieked as she dive-bombed Odd from the air. Odd saw her coming in plenty of time to avoid her, and she had to put on the brakes to avoid crashing into the concrete floor. She pulled up at the last possible second and circled back around to face him, landing on the ground a few feet from his nose. She stared menacingly at him for a long moment before she spat out one word in a glaring question.

"Truce?" she asked, almost convincingly as Odd stared her down. He mulled it over for a long moment, and then looked up at her hypnotic stare, and was captivated by her beauty. He hesitated before finally replying:

"Okay…" YOU IDIOT! Taelia sneered as she lashed out with the whip and struck Odd cleanly in the chest, devirtualizing him with a dumbfounded look of shock on his face. At the same time, the mercenary shot his leg out and tripped Marth, sending him crashing to the ground before he plunged his sword through Marth's stomach, devirtualizing him as well. Taelia just sneered at the simplicity as she looked at the mercenary, who vanished instantly in a haze of smoke as Taelia headed through the double doors to the holding cell. "_It's time to finish this once and for all…_" she thought as she sprinted down the narrow corridor…

"Oh, snap…" Ulrich said loudly as he turned around and saw Marth, Odd, and William reappear in their NavSkids, unconscious for the time being. This was not good. And the Kolossus was getting slowly and slowly closer…

Back in the holding cell…

"Unh!" Jacob grunted as he laid a well-placed Energy Sword strike into Antea's shackle, which shattered on contact with the blade. Antea winced as she rubbed her wrists where the metal had rubbed them raw, and slowly and shakily stood up.

"Thank you…both of you…" she murmured, casting a shaky smile at Jacob, who just nodded wordlessly. All of a sudden, the three of them turned with a start as the door came crashing in, and Taelia stood in the doorway, whip drawn and with a pronounced grimace on her face.

"Aw, how sweet…" she said cynically. "A family reunion. Well the party's over!" she hissed as she leaped towards them. Aelita froze in shock as Jacob leaped in front of Antea, who cowered in fear behind him as he grappled hand-to-hand with Taelia.

"I…won't…let…you harm…her!" Jacob grunted as he tried futilely to force her back. She just grinned with a menacing glint in her eyes as she got leverage and twisted his arm behind his back. Jacob cried out in pain as she shoved him to the side and dived forward, landing on top of Antea and pinning her to the ground.

"Mom!" Aelita screeched as she saw her mother fall to the ground. Taelia just cackled evilly as she crouched over Antea and placed a hand at her throat to keep her subdued. Antea just relaxed and turned her head so that she could see her daughter one more time…

"Aelita, my princess…" she whispered. "I'm sorry…sorry that I couldn't do more…I love you…don't…don't forget that…" she whispered in a choked-off, yet still confident whisper as her eyes sparkled with emotion…

"_This can't be…_" Aelita thought as she began to cry. "_My nightmare can't come true…_"

"Oh, how sweet…" Taelia laughed cynically as she raised the whip over her head. "And now, it's time for you to be silenced!" she screeched madly as she prepared to bring the whip down onto Antea's calm expression…

"NO!" Jacob screamed as he leaped forward and tackled Taelia to the ground. The last thing he remembered was telling the two girls to run as he summoned every ounce of energy in his body. "_You will never harm them!_" he screamed in a distorted tone as his eyes began to glow. He began to rise up off of the ground, and he dragged Taelia with him, holding her by the throat as he levitated off the ground. As Aelita and Antea ran and shielded themselves behind the door for cover, Jacob's body was surrounded with a glowing white aura that grew brighter and brighter until the whole room was engulfed in the blinding light…

"Jeremy, we gotta get out of here!" Ulrich screamed as the Kolossus was close enough to them now that it was bearing down on the Skid.

"_But they've got Antea! Can't you hold on a few minutes longer?_" he asked in a tear-choked voice as Ulrich dived out of the way of being crushed by the foot of the Kolossus.

"NO!" he cried back. "I don't like it any more than you do, but otherwise, NONE OF US WILL MAKE IT OUT ALIVE!" he screamed as he threw his sabre into one of the Eyes on the brute to distract it from the Skid.

"_I…okay, let's go_," Jeremy sighed in pained submission as he teleported Ulrich and Yumi back into the Skid. "_Yumi, you're driving! Get the Skid to safety, NOW!_" he screamed as he realized how close the beast was to wiping it out for a second time. Yumi released the docking signals and deftly flew the Skid away and down into the Digital Sea just before the Kolossus's hand swiped where the Skid had been not five seconds before…

"Now we've lost all way of rescuing Antea, Jacob and Aelita…damn!" Jeremy shrieked in fury as he pounded his fist against the desk futilely.

Back in the base…

As the glow dimmed, Aelita took a chance at opening the door again, and when she did she saw Jacob lowering himself to the floor. There was no sign of Taelia as the glow dimmed from his eyes…

"She's gone, for now…" he said softly as he tried to stand on shaking legs. Aelita rushed over and grabbed his arm to keep him from falling, and waited a second until he gave her the ok before returning to help her mother to her feet. Once she had, the trio walked to the doorway and stood, looking around for any way out…

"_Guys…_" Jeremy said over the com-link. "_I've got some bad news. The Kolossus showed up on the Replika…and we had to abandon the Replika in order to save the Skid…_"

"You mean we're trapped here, right, Einstein?" Jacob asked, knowing the answer already.

"_Unless you know something I don't…_" Jeremy admitted as Aelita sank to her knees and shook her head.

"Now what?" she asked hollowly, sounding as though she had given up all hope. Antea just hugged her and stroked her hair softly, trying to comfort her.

"Shh…shh…my Princess…it will be okay. I promise; there's always a way…" she murmured.

"I propose we look around for any clues…" Jacob said as the trio got to their feet and began to look around the base…

They searched around with the help of Jeremy's schematics until they finally arrived at the Supercomputer Room. Aelita and Jacob broke the password after a few moments, and the door opened soundlessly as they walked into the room. Aelita began to scan around for anything useful as Jacob sat down at the computer screen and sifted through the files as Antea looked over his shoulder. A moment passed, and just as he was about to whisk a window away from the screen, Antea stopped him, and Jacob looked at the program in shock as his eyes widened.

"Jeremy, I don't believe this! I've found a version of the virtualization program on the Supercomputer here!" he exclaimed as Jeremy coughed and sat up in shock. There was hope!

"_That's amazing! That might be the way we can bring you guys home!_" he exclaimed in joy as his fingers flew over the keys. "_Let me see if I can hack into the Supercomputer…_" he muttered, and a few moments later Jacob heard "_Got it!_" over the com-link, meaning that Jeremy had gotten into the mainframe of the Siberian Supercomputer.

"You're in?" he asked incredulously as Jeremy nodded excitedly.

"_Yes, I'm in!_" he said quickly as he looked over the virtualization protocols and nodded after a moment. "_Yes…this will work…_" he muttered as Jacob let out a "Yes!" under his breath. "_One problem, though…we need Scanners. Scanners that we don't have…_" he added as Aelita suddenly said, "Jacob! Come here!" Jacob got up quickly and ran over to where she was. She was standing over a trio of metal discs with many flashing colored lights on them. Jacob gazed at them for a moment, wondering where he had seen them before…

—_Flashback—_

_The room had steel walls and cords and cables were strewn everywhere. In each corner on the floor was a metal disc, slightly wider than a human's shoulder width, and all four discs were blinking with colored lights that were almost hypnotic to look at…_

"_Hey, Jeremy…' he began as he took the rolled-up blueprints from his sleeve and handed them to Jeremy. "I saw some weird disc-looking things on the floor in the bunker and found these blueprints nearby. They looked interesting so I grabbed them to see what you could make of them," he explained as Jeremy tucked his glasses further up on his nose before unfurling the sheets and looking at the blueprints. "Any ideas?" he asked as Jeremy muttered to himself before looking up and replying._

"_I'm not sure right off-hand," he replied, a little disappointed, "but you're right. These are worth taking a look at, especially if they were in Franz's bunker. It's not like any technology I've ever seen before…"_

—_End Flashback—_

"Jeremy!" Jacob said quickly. "Remember those blueprints I brought back from Franz's bunker?" he asked.

"_Yeah, what about them?_" Jeremy asked in response as Aelita gave him an answer.

"The discs that were in them are here too!" she said excitedly. "Do you think it means anything?" she asked as Jacob looked down at them, then at the Supercomputer, then back down at them, and then at their specific design…and finally, the light bulb clicked in his head and Jeremy's at exactly the same time. There was only one reason that they would be in both places…with _both_ Supercomputers!

"_**They're open-air Scanners!**_" the two boys said at the exact same time as Aelita's mouth dropped open and she was flooded with a sense of relief and overwhelming happiness.

"Jeremy! Prep the programs! We're coming home!" Jacob said in relief and joy as Aelita hugged her mother. "_It's time…at long last…_" she thought to herself…

"They're coming home?" Odd and Yumi said in unison as Jeremy turned to them and smiled widely for the first time that day.

"Yes!" was all Jeremy could say. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes…"

Aelita breathed shakily as she helped her mother into place on the Scanner before walking over and getting into place on her own. Jacob nodded slowly as he looked around before getting onto the last Scanner and taking a deep breath. This was it…

Jeremy scanned through the protocols quickly as he prepped the virtualization procedure. It seemed easy enough. He ran the protocols, and was pleasantly surprised when everything appeared on the screen exactly as it would have if he were virtualizing them onto Lyoko. He prepared to voice the commands, but he heard Jacob say "Wait!" and he froze before he began the procedure.

"Aelita and I are already here in spectre form, Einstein. Can we _be_ revirtualized in this state?" he asked as Jeremy thought it over quickly, the wheels turning in his head.

"_Well…I don't see why not. Even though you are in spectre form, your DNA profile still exists within your virtual form. And you can't just zap each other, because you'd have to be transported back to the Skid, which isn't on the Replika anymore, so you'd be virtualized into empty space and fall into the Digital Sea, basically. The way I see it, this is the only way I can think of to bring you all back safely without putting the others back in danger if the Kolossus were to come back._"

"Okay," Jacob replied solemnly. "I trust you, Jeremy," he said. "_But that doesn't mean I'm not still worried…_" he thought to himself as Jeremy reinitiated the virtualization protocols.

"Here we go!" he said as he fired up the program." "Transfer Jacob!"

Jacob watched as a pillar of golden light rose up around his body and felt his feet lift ever so slightly off of the ground. "_Hmm, not so different from back home…_" he thought as Jeremy continued.

"Transfer Aelita!" Aelita felt the same thing happen to her as she breathed slowly and closed her eyes.

"Antea, hang on tight…" Jeremy warned her.

"Don't worry," she replied as she readied herself. "I've been through the process before. You don't realize; Franz and I worked on the predecessor programs to Lyoko together at first."

"Oh, okay," Jeremy said as he readied the program. "Transfer Antea!" Jeremy watched as an ID card for Antea was created in the Lyoko Supercomputer for future reference, and Antea closed her eyes too as she felt herself lift off of the ground.

"Scanner Jacob, Scanner Aelita, Scanner Antea!" The trio felt a gust of wind erupt from the fan beneath their feet as they felt their bodies begin to lighten. Just as they were mentally ready, Jeremy said the most important word, which sent chills up his, the gangs, and their spines as he pressed the final key…

"VIRTUALIZATION!" Jeremy yelled as he pressed the 'Enter' key and sent the trio, hopefully, on their journey home. "_I hope, for all our sakes, that this works…_" he thought as he crossed his fingers…

A few long, long moments passed as the gang waited anxiously for the outcome. Then, all of a sudden, a zipping noise was heard as three virtual matrices appeared over the frozen ground of the Ice Sector. Aelita and Jacob reformed on the Replika and dropped to the ground, looking up to watch as Antea's virtual form took shape and she dropped to the ground to join them.

Antea was nothing short of stunning, and it was clear where Aelita had gotten her looks and beauty from as they looked at Antea. She was wearing a similarly-cut pink top to her daughter, albeit a little darker in hue, and a translucent pink, instead of clear, skirt. She had two streaks of pink on her cheeks and pointed ears, like Aelita, and her hair was pixie-cut, like it was in real life. But on her back was the most impressive thing of all, as she had a pair of beautiful silver wings. At first, you looked at them and thought they were made of feathers, but when you looked really closely, you saw that the 'feathers' were actually steel-tipped and sharp as a razor-blade. Antea smiled as she looked at herself, and then looked at her daughter.

"This is why I told Franz you would look like me," she chuckled as Aelita ran over and hugged her mother again. Jacob just smiled at the feeling of happiness he felt radiating from the two of them as he looked up and opened the com-link. "Jeremy! It worked! We're all here!"

In the Lab, Jeremy and the gang let out pent-up breaths that they didn't even realize they had been holding, in pure relief.

"Jacob? Oh my gosh; I'm so glad you guys are okay! We all are!" he said, unable to hide his grin as the others high-fived and whooped because their mission was indeed a success! "Let me hook you all back up to our materialization and virtualization protocols so we can bring you guys home!"

It took Jeremy a few minutes with his fingers flying over the keys to have everything back in order, but after he did, he said, "It's done! Ready to come home, you three?"

"More than you know…" Aelita responded as she looked up at the calm, cold sky above them. "_It's a truly good day, now…_" she thought as Jeremy spoke again…

Materialization Jacob, Materialization Aelita, Materialization Antea!

Back in the Scanner Room, everyone had gathered expectantly around the three Scanners, and the doors opened and Jacob came out first in a cloud of steam and smiled, high-fiving the guys and hugging Jeremy as Aleita too came out of her Scanner and hugged Jeremy, knowing that she was finally home. But the biggest moment was yet to come as the entire gang huddled around the last Scanner, waiting for Antea. The doors slowly opened, and standing there…

…was Antea, looking more alive than she had since they had rescued her. All Aelita could do was burst into tears as she ran forward and hugged her mother, amidst the cheets of the entire gang. Jeremy looked on proudly as Aelita whispered two words to her mom…

"Welcome home…"

As she said this, Jacob looked at his watch and read 3:00. He looked at it slowly, and then smiled as he looked up and around at the group. Odd caught this and saw the smile on Jake's face, and asked:

"What is it, Einstein?" Jacob just grinned as he showed them his watch and what time it was. Odd looked back at him with a puzzled look, and Jacob smacked his forehead in mock exasperation.

"The last bell just rang at Kadic. It's officially summer…" he said as the whole gang burst into wide smiles at the fact that they now had time to get their lives in order, especially Aelita, who could not stop smiling as she buried herself in her mother's arms again.

"_This is truly home now…_" she thought to herself as she let out a small laugh. Time to start living…

LW94: Thanks to all of you who have stayed with me through this fifth season! My promise to you: STAY TUNED FOR MORE! Here's a sneak-peek at next season!

Next time:

**Episode 123: Strange Occurrences**

On the sixth season premiere of Code Lyoko: Unleashed, two of the gang's own reminisce on everything that has happened so far, and new secrets, as well as new acquaintances, are uncovered, on the season premiere of Code Lyoko: Unleashed…

**A/N 2: For Season Six, the name of this fanfic will change slightly to ****Code Lyoko: Unleashed****, to represent all the things I have planned for the future! Check it out coming soon!**


	28. Character Interview 1:  Jacob Matthews

**A/N: Hey guys, thought I would tag a little bit of fun onto the end of Season Five with some in-depth character interviews! This should hopefully let you get to know the quirks, and humor, of our stars just a little bit better! Have a good laugh! Enjoy!**

Character: Jacob Matthews  
1) What gender are you?

Jacob- For real? A guy, thank you!

2) What is your age?  
Jacob- The same as Jeremy, Odd, Ulrich, Marth, and Aelita, duh. That's why we're in the same grade.

LW94- Doesn't help, genius…

Jacob- Oh, yeah…right…14.

3) Do you want a hug?

Jacob- Depends on the situation. I am a hugger.

LW94- I think they meant now.

Jacob- Uh…no, I'm good. (wry chuckle)

4) Do you have any bad habits?

Jacob- Uh…working on Lyoko stuff long after midnight…and being a perfectionist over my schoolwork.

LW94- And… (Jacob runs up and muffles my mouth)

Jacob- We're moving on; thank you.

5) What is your favorite food?

Jacob- Easy. Chocolate. Anything in chocolate.

6) What is your favorite ice cream flavour?

Jacob- I believe the previous question answers this one. (laughing)

7) Are you a virgin?

Jacob- Um, unless someone's changed that fact without my knowledge.

8) Have you killed anyone?

Jacob- Do virtual monsters count?

LW94- No.

Jacob- Then no, I haven't.

9) Do you hate anyone?

Jacob- If you can call a possessed computer program bent on destroying the world anyone, then yes. I hate, despise, loathe, and detest XANA.

LW94- Wow…that's harsh.

10) Do you have any secrets?

Jacob- Yeah, absolutely.

LW94- Any that you're willing to share?

Jacob- Heck, no! That's why they're called secrets, duh!

11) What is your favorite season?

Jacob- Spring. Everything gets warm again and the birds start singing. Remember, I'm a big music person.

12) Who are your friends?

Jacob- Well, this isn't hard. Jeremy, Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, William, and Marth.

Joey- Hey! What about me?

Jacob- I'm getting to you…chill out, Joey…

13) Do you have a best friend?

Jacob- Easy. Joey. We've known each other practically forever. And he's like my brother. I love him like he's family.

Joey- Aw…that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me…

Jacob- Oh, come on…I'm always nice…

Joey- Um…

Jacob- Next!

14) What are your hobbies?

Jacob- Kicking XANA's virtual butt…working on computer stuff…

LW94- Lyoko is his life…he just doesn't realize it…

15) What is your favorite drink?

Jacob- Ooh…that's a tough one…

LW94- Is not. Coffee. Hands-down.

Jacob- Okaaaaay then…

16) When is your birthday?

Jacob- Um…the date of my birth.

LW94- Yeah, that's the duh part. When, genius!

Jacob- January 9th. (begrudgingly)

17) Are you nice or mean?

Jacob- I like to think I'm nice…

LW94- (mouths) Is not…

18) What do you think of your creator?

Jacob- Well…

LW94- Oh, you better watch it here…

Jacob- Okay then. He's nice, funny, and has a lot of good ideas. And he hasn't killed me yet!

LW94- Yet being the key word… (maniacal laugh)

19) What is your weakness?

Jacob- Fear. Or…when people joke about my leg problem. That makes me go off the deep end…

LW94- (sadly) It's true…

20) Do you love someone?

Jacob- Maybe…

21) Does that person love you back?

Jacob- I don't know…maybe someday I'll find out

22) Large or small family?

Jacob- (teary-eyed) I don't feel like answering this one.

LW94- (mouths) Small…

23) Where are your parents?

Jacob- (through gritted teeth) Same answer as before…

LW94- (mouths again) Gone…

24) Which of your parents do you like most?

Jacob- Can we get off the parents subject already?

25) Do you have a job(s)?

Jacob- Yeah (wryly). Saving the world.

26) What is it or what are they?

Jacob- As I said; saving the world.

27) Do you have a favorite thing?

Jacob- Yeah…but…I'd be crazy if I told you what…

28) What do you like most?

Jacob- A day when we beat XANA.

29) Do you like boys or girls?

Jacob- Um…really? You're really asking me this? Girls, thank you.

30) Are you sure you like them?

Jacob- Um, yeah; now stop asking!

31) Really?

Jacob- (rears back to punch questioner in the nose, but stops before actually doing it)

32) What animal are you?

Jacob- Last time I checked…human. I don't think that's changed.

33) Do you have a tattoo or something like it?

Jacob- Two words: No, and heck no!

34) Do you have any idols?

Jacob- Jeremy. He can do things with a computer that I can only dream of.

Jeremy- Aw…thanks, bud!

Jacob- Don't mention it!

35) Any others?

Jacob- Maybe…but my brain's tired. I can't think of them now…

36) If you could have any wish be true what would you want?

Jacob- For world peace, and XANA to be destroyed…

LW94- That's two wishes!

Jacob- I really, really don't care! They're related…

37) What is your pet peeve?

Jacob- When people interrupt me while I'm working! People need to learn how to wait and show some patience!

LW94: Thanks for a few minutes of your time, Jacob. I'm sure our readers liked getting to know you a little bit better!

Jacob: Yeah, sure…thanks readers! See you on the virtual side!

LW94: REVIEW IT! It's good humor! And I'll make the next one better if you tell me what to fix or add!


End file.
